


Freaks

by Dassy1407



Category: One Direction
Genre: ADHD, AU, Asthma, Claustrophobia, M/M, Mute - Freeform, alternative universe, bipolar, freaks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-18
Updated: 2013-02-18
Packaged: 2017-11-29 16:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/689098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dassy1407/pseuds/Dassy1407
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam was curious about the boys in the theatre hall; the boys the other students at Jefferson University labeled "Freaks". Little did he know how well he could to relate to those freaks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

“Welcome to University of Hell, little cousin!” Andy laughed, clamping his hand down on my shoulder.

“Thanks, er, I think,” I said, covering up my wince from him grabbing my shoulder. Luckily, he released his grip and adjusted the straps on his backpack.

“I know the only reason you decided to transfer here was because of the football scholarship Liam, but still,” Andy grimaced and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

My cousin was a senior at Jefferson University, and this was the only college he had been accepted to. He was on the football team as well, but was 4th string kicker. I had originally been attending a private school near my home town, but the player they originally gave the scholarship to was injured so they offered it to me instead. The university wasn’t the greatest, but the football team was great, plus it was going to be a hell of a lot cheaper than the private school.

“Over there is the physical center,” Andy pointed across the large campus to various buildings, but I still knew I was going to need the map. “Over there is the stadium…library…,” he continued to list off the different buildings.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to one of the older looking buildings.

“That? Oh, it’s the theatre, music, and drama department,” Andy explained, uninterested.

“Oh,” I said with a small smirk. “Do they have shows?” I asked curiously. I liked attending the performances at my old school, but was always too shy to get involved.

Andy let out a laugh and his arm was gripping my shoulder again. “Don’t know, don’t care. I’d stay away from those people if I were you,” he said.

“Why?” I asked, confused.

Andy sighed and rolled his eyes again. “Not all of them are bad, but there’s a group of kids that hang out there a lot. Total freaks,” he commented. “I had to take a music class for an extra curricular last year and it was in that building, and these same four boys would always be sitting in the theater,” he explained and his shoulders shook in disgust.

 

“They were sitting in there? No way,” I replied with sarcasm, not seeing the problem.

“Shut up. They’re all freaking weird! Most of them are sophomores I think. But the one kid, Louis, I think his name is, he started the year I did. He had been pretty normal at the start of this thing, until he got involved in all that theater shit. Now he just freaks me the hell out.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. He wasn’t really providing any good evidence for why the kids were ‘freaks’ other than them freaking him out.

“Just take my advice and stay out of there. With your scholarship you’re exempt from all those extra classes, aren’t you?”

I nodded. “Yeah, the football pretty much takes care of all my general education classes,” I explained, but still had my eyes on the theater building. I was oddly curious about this group of kids my cousin explained. ‘Freak’ had been my label in high school, even though Andy always assumed I was a popular jock.

So maybe I embellished a little bit when I would brag about myself to my cousin sometimes. I was good at football, like really good. But I wasn’t a popular kid in high school, I was actually the opposite. I had no friends, and everyone on the football team hated me. They were only ever nice to me when they needed me to play for the team, but after the season was over, I was back to being their punching bag.

When I had been bullied, I often found myself hiding in the theatre. I never attempted to make friends with the drama kids though, I was pretty sure they hated me too. I would just sit in the back and watch.

You may be wondering why they hated me, and I honestly couldn’t tell you exactly why. It was a small town, so everyone knew everyone. Growing up, I was the wimpy kid with asthma. I had been diagnosed at a young age, but attacks happen often for me. In high school, I got myself involved in football and found my talent in the sport. It was a challenge with my asthma, but I managed. I grew from a weak and small child to a fit and strong teenager.

The athlete is what my cousin saw in me and because he had been the star athlete of his high school and popular, he assumed I was popular as well.

“Shit,” Andy suddenly said, looking down at his watch. “I got to get to class. Will you be able to find your way back to the dorms?” he asked, already moving away from me and heading down the side walk.

“Yeah,” I say but he was already gone. I sighed and looked back at the theater building. I looked around the busy campus before making my way over. I entered the building, admiring how quiet it was. I figured that it being music and drama, it would be crowded with bustling kids playing instruments, dancing, or acting, but I saw no one around.

As I walked through the building, I realized that each room was individually sound proof. There was many small rooms for practicing, and the main stage was located in the back of the building. I noticed advertisements for the upcoming show: Chicago comes to the Jefferson Stage, Directed by Senior, Louis Tomlinson.

I found my way to the theater and slipped inside. There was a group of kids on stage, but luckily I had slipped in unnoticed. They were all lounged out across the floor of the stage. One kid sat with a guitar, one was laying down with his head on a rolled up sweat shirt, and two of them were focusing on a card game in front of them.

I felt a sense of familiarity as I took a seat in the back of the auditorium. It reminded me of my old high school. Despite not holding the best memories for me, it was calming my nerves of being new at this large campus.

“Hey Haz, will you bring that capo over for me?” An Irish accent called across the stage.

I watched as a curly haired fellow who had been playing the card game reach behind him and pick up the capo before tossing it to the blond holding the guitar.

“Thanks mate,” he said and adjusted it onto the guitar and began playing.

The curly haired boy nodded, but his attention was returned to the card game.

The boy who had been laying down suddenly rolled over and groaned. “Stop playing,” he grumbled. “I’m trying to sleep,” he complained, his foot intentionally hitting the guitar, making the Irish boy stop.

“You’re always sleeping, Zayn,” the boy commented but set the guitar aside anyways. “But I guess even the ugly duckling needs his beauty sleep,” he added and didn’t hesitate before scrambling to his feet.

Zayn, the dark haired boy, glared at the Irish one before he was on his feet as well, chasing after him. “Take that back!” he demanded as he chased the smaller boy around the stage.

“Zayn! Niall! Stop!” The lighter haired boy who had been playing cards raised his voice, dropping his hand of cards onto the floor. He got to his feet as well and chased after them.

“He started it,” Zayn grumbled, but stopped chasing Niall when the smaller boy ran around and hid behind the curly haired boy who was still sitting.

“I don’t care. I’m too stressed to deal with both of you,” the oldest of them said, giving Zayn a look that seemed to calm his anger down.

I was surprised at how the scene escalated so quickly, and was now falling back to peace at the same speed.

“Sorry, Louis,” Zayn pouted and went back to his make-shift bed on the floor.

Louis nodded and picked up the guitar, bringing it back over to Niall who was sitting next to the silent boy, looking over his shoulder at his cards. “Here, Ni, you can play but keep it low,” he instructed.

“I’m okay, I’m helping Harry now. He’s totally going to kick your ass!” Niall grinned.

Harry grinned, but said nothing.

Louis just rolled his eyes playfully and took his seat again. He paused before picking up his cards and looked out at the empty auditorium, or what he most likely thought was empty, and his eyes landed right on me.

“Who’s there?” Louis called and I was instantly afraid.

I knew I shouldn’t have been so afraid, but years of getting beaten on from being ‘where you’re not supposed to be’ made me very cautious. I grabbed my back pack and darted out of the side door, ignoring the voices calling after me.

I continued to run down the hall, not wanting the Louis kid, or any of the other ones to find me. What if they were really angry about me invading their privacy? What if by ‘freak’, Andy meant some sadistic cult that was going to cut my tongue out now or something.

Maybe I was being a little dramatic, but I was still just as scared about facing them. I heard footsteps behind me but I was too afraid to turn around. I soon found myself lost in the halls and I couldn’t find an exit. When I felt the running steps were growing closer, I darted into a bathroom.

I leaned against a bathroom stall, panting for breath. I closed my eyes, praying that what ever boy that had run after me didn’t see the me run in here. I was listening for footsteps when I felt it. It was familiar flair in my chest, one that I’ve felt too many times before. I opened my eyes and saw my reflection in the mirror staring back at me. I took a deep breath, hoping I was imagining it, but no, I was starting to have an asthma attack. I placed my hand on my chest as my lungs constricted painfully. I quickly grabbed my backpack off my back and ripped it open, scrambling through it to find my inhaler. I fell to my knees and I pulled out the unopened texts and notebooks.

My breath heaved painfully and my eyes watered as I struggled to breathe. How could this be happening?! I’ve ran many times before without having an attack, why did it have to happen now?!

“Hello?” I heard the voice and looked up to see the boy, Louis, entering the bathroom. “Whoa,” he said when he saw me staring up at him from my knees, the content of my backpack scattered around me.

I ignored his weird stares and focused on finding the inhaler. I began to cough and black dots spotted my vision. My hand grasped the inhaler but then I pulled it from the backpack, it slipped my fingers and shot across the bathroom floor, right between Louis’s feet.

I reached towards it but then felt my body falling forward, landing painfully on the cold tile. I pinched my eyes shut, trying to scramble across the floor to the inhaler and also trying to breathe properly.

“Holy god,” I heard the boy gasp and then I suddenly felt the familiar feel of plastic touching my lips, and a hand on my shoulder. Instinctively, I opened my mouth and the inhaler slipped between my lips. I raised my hand, almost jumping when I felt the warm hand holding the inhaler, but the gentle hand soon transferred the medicine to my hand. I squeezed it, giving myself two quick puffs. The medicine instantly relieved the pressure on my lungs and the asthma attack ceased.

I took a few moments to calm myself down, trying to regroup after the attack. Plus, I didn’t want to open my eyes to face the pretty boy leaning over me. Embarrassed was the exact term I would use to describe how I felt at that moment.

“You’re not dead, are you?” Louis asked and I felt his hand squeeze my shoulder again. I hadn’t even realized that he had yet to let go of me.

I shook my head slowly before opening my eyes. Piercing blue eyes stared back and my and I had to blink to let my eyes focus on how close they actually were to me. The boy, Louis, was leaning over me, his hand on my shoulder, his expression very worried. “Are you okay?” he asked me.

I nodded again, but couldn’t find words to say.

“Are you mute?” Louis asked, seriously. Surprisingly, I’ve been asked that before because of how quiet I am, but normally when they asked, they would laugh and add or something, you freak? to the question. But Louis was genuinely asking me and I felt my heart warm at the concerned look on his face.

I shook my head again and frowned when Louis smirked.

“Then say something. Please?” Louis continued to speak politely, and helped me sit up.

I gulped and rested my head back against the wall of the bathroom. I couldn’t help but glance at Louis’s hand, because it was still resting on my shoulder. “Sorry,” I panted, still trying to catch my breath.

“Sorry for chasing you, mate, and, well, causing the asthma attack,” Louis said, smiling sadly.

“Not your fault,” I said, forcing myself to take deep but slow breaths.

Louis shrugged slightly. “Well, not to be rude, but why did you run from me?” he asked curiously.

“Erm,” I looked away from him, looking at the plumbing beneath the sinks. “I thought you’d be mad because I was watching you and your friends….” I admitted shyly.

“I’m not mad. And the only reason I chased you was because I thought you were…. Well, this one guy that likes to sneak in there and take our picture,” Louis explained and finally let go of my shoulder.

“Why does he take your picture?” I asked, my voice returning to normal.

“He photo shops them,” Louis began but then seemed to change his mind about explaining it to me. “It doesn’t really matter. Are you going to be okay? I should get back to the others,” he explained as he started picking up my scattered belongings and putting them back into my backpack.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I assured, and helped him put my things away.

“Are you new here?” Louis asked once we were both standing, and walking out of the bathroom.

I nodded. “Yeah, I was just exploring the campus,” I fibbed. How was I supposed to explain that I was curious about him and his friends before even meeting them and I was stalking them from the empty seats earlier.

“Theater or music major?” Louis asked.

“Undecided,” I said, and for the first time ever, I was embarrassed that I was a freshman in college and I was undecided on my major. “I, um. I’m here on a football scholarship,” I added quickly.

Louis’s face seemed to fall. “Oh,” he said.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked.

Louis looked up at me and wiped off his disappointed look the best he could, but I could still see it in his eyes. “No, not at all,” he said, and left it at that.

We continued walking through the halls again, and I’m guessing we were headed back towards the auditorium. I wasn’t sure if I was meant to keep following him, but I didn’t exactly know where the exit was.

We finally made it a hallway that was familiar to me, and I saw the entrance to the auditorium, and also the signs leading to the exit. I slowed my pace, trying to decide where to go. I felt as though Louis didn’t want me to come with him, but I knew I wanted to. He was someone I really wanted to get to know more, which was strange for me. Most people I’ve run into are ones I wish I’ve never met, but he was someone that interested me. Feeling as though I was about to cross a line, I was about to dismiss myself and leave, when the curly haired boy from earlier ran through the doors.

Louis stepped back to avoid getting hit with the doors and bumped into me, causing me to step back quickly. I’m sure that Louis would have apologized to me if it weren’t for the terrified look on the other boy’s face.

“Harry? What’s wrong?” Louis asked, reaching out and putting his face between his hands.

Harry’s eyes blazed in fear and he shook his head, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

Oh,

I thought. That’s why Louis had asked me if I was mute, because his curly haired friend was.

Harry pulled Louis’s hands from his face but then began pulling on his arms. Louis didn’t hesitate to follow him.

I stayed where I was, but only for a few seconds before following as well. We all broke out in a small run and when I rounded the corner, I spotted the dark haired boy from earlier, Zayn, standing near a door, talking to it. I was getting even more confused as we ran towards him.

“They did it again!?” Louis groaned loudly and stopped short when we reached the door, peaking into the window. I stood near the wall, going on my tiptoes to see through the window. I noticed that it was a practice room, which seemed to only have a 5ft by 5ft area inside, and the Irish lad, Niall was inside. He was standing in the center of the small area, his arms wrapped around himself, trembling and crying.

“Niall?” Louis said through the door, waving in front of it because it was probably sound proof both ways. Niall looked up and his face softened at the sight of his friend.

“Help,” I read his lips and then Louis tried to open the door.

“How the hell do they keep getting keys to this door?!” Louis groaned and then looked through the window again, getting Niall’s attention. “Stay calm Niall, I’m going to go find the key,” he said slowly and clearly so the boy could read his lips easily. He stepped away from the door.

“Harry, you stay here. Zayn, come with me,” Louis instructed and whirled around, his eyes widening when he noticed me. “Oh,” he said and I opened my mouth to apologize for being nosy again, but he didn’t give me the chance. “Can you stay here and try to keep him calm? He’s very claustrophobic,” he said and then was running back down the hallway with Zayn.

Whoa

, I thought to myself. I’ve never considered myself claustrophobic, but I wasn’t so sure I’d like the idea of being trapped inside such a small room. I took a step up to the window, peeking over Harry’s shoulder. Niall was staring up at Harry, reading the words the boy was only mouthing.

Harry looked at me and shook his head before stepping away. I looked back in the window and Niall was shaking worse than before. I tapped on the window to get his attention again.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was supposed to say in a situation like this, so I forced a smile and said. “Hi.”

Niall rose an eyebrow and frowned before saying “Hi.” back.

“My name is Liam,” I spoke slowly and he squinted his eyes before saying what I assumed to be “Niall.” in return.

“I play football,” I said, hoping that talking about random things would distract him. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to understand what I said. “Um,” I frowned and looked at Harry, who shrugged, but nodded to me to continue.

I pointed to myself and said “I”, then I stepped away from the window slightly and pretended to throw a ball, plastering a goofy grin on my face. I looked back in the window and saw Niall smiling, laughing slightly, though I don’t think he still comprehended what I was telling him. I grinned and chuckled as well.

I made a silly face and the boy continued to laugh. I was so glad I was getting his mind off the situation he was in, but I was running out of things to do.

Luckily, I looked down the hall to see Louis and Zayn returning, key in hand. I stepped back again as Zayn unlocked the door. As soon as it was pulled open, Niall rushed out and was engulfed in Louis’s arms.

“It’s okay now, Niall, you’re okay,” Louis soothed, holding the trembling boy. Once he was calm enough, the group began to venture back down the hall towards the auditorium. I was about to finally make my departure, when Harry grabbed my wrist. He gave it a little tug and motioned with his head for me to follow. Once I began to follow them again, he let go of my wrist.

We went through the backdoor to the stage and they all went towards the center and sat down together. I stood awkwardly near the curtains.

“Come sit with us, Liam,” Louis said and patted the spot beside him. I walked over and sat down, glancing around at the other boys.

“Thank you” Niall spoke up softly, his head leaning on Louis’s shoulder, but he was looking at me.

I glanced at Louis and then at Niall, giving him a small shrug. “It was nothing,” I assured him.

“Sorry you had to see me freak out like that,” Niall added.

“Shh, Niall, it’s not your fault,” Zayn said, patting the Irish lad’s leg gently.

“Yeah, It’s fine. Louis here already seen me at my worst today,” I added.

Louis looked at me and smiled slightly, silently saying good point, before looking back down at Niall. “I saved him from an asthma attack,” he said.

“Well I was kind of in the middle of an attack—” I corrected him.

“True. And I kind of did cause you to have the attack from me chasing you,” Louis added with a shrug.

“So you’re the guy that was in here earlier?” Zayn asked.

“Yeah, that was me. Sorry,” I said, blushing sheepishly.

“It’s okay..” Zayn said, leaving it at that, though I could tell he wanted to say more.

There was a few moments of awkward silence until Louis spoke up again, talking to Niall. “Who was it this time?”

“The football players. Kyle, and Josh,” Niall muttered before burying his face in Louis’s shirt.

I instantly felt eyes on me. I looked at Louis and frowned. He looked ticked at me.

“Friends of yours?” Louis asked and I instantly felt cold.

“No,” I said immediately. “Why would you think…” I trailed off and frowned again. “I haven’t even met the football team yet,” I said in defense.

“Oh,” Louis’s expression softened.

“You’re a football player?” Zayn asked and he sounded disgusted.

“Yeah…. Is that a problem?” I found myself asking that for the second time that day.

“I guess not,” Zayn said bitterly.

I was starting to grow angry. What was their problem?

“It’s just, the football team aren’t very friendly towards us,” Louis said, sending Zayn a glare.

“Well just because I’m on the team doesn’t mean I’m like them,” I said defensively.

“We don’t know that for sure. We don’t know you,” Zayn said.

“Do you normally judge people before you know them then?” I snapped, and looked around at the four boys. Zayn and Harry both looked angry, Louis looked sad, and Niall still had his face hidden in Louis’s shoulder. “Maybe I should have judged you all before meeting you guys. I should have listened to Andy,” I muttered more to myself and began to get to my feet. I didn’t mean to say it out loud, but as I got up, I muttered “Freaks,” under my breath.

Before I could even finish getting to my feet, I felt something collide into me. I fell back onto the stage with a thud and the wind was knocked out of my lungs. I opened my eyes to see a fuming Harry pinning me down. He was literally shaking in anger and I saw his fist go back, ready to come down on my face, when he was pulled off of me.

I sat up quickly and saw Louis holding Harry back. Zayn was moving towards me and he also looked ready to take a swing at me, but Niall jumped between us. “Zayn, stop!” he yelled and Zayn glared at me before storming away, into the wings.

As Louis tried to calm Harry down, Niall looked at me. “Thank you for helping me, but I think you should leave now,” he said in a surprisingly calm tone.

“I didn’t mean to say that,” I said, my voice trembling slightly. “I was just angry, I didn’t mean it,” I said.

“It’s okay,” Niall said and stepped closer to me. “I’ll admit that we’re a bunch of freaks before any of them will, but Harry is especially sensitive to that word,” he said softly, not wanting to boy to hear.

“Is that a reason why he’s mute?” I asked.

Niall nodded. “One of the reasons, anyways,” he said. “Why do you care so much?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, glancing back to see Louis and Harry gone from the stage. “Where’d they go?”

Niall looked around. “Probably to the band room to calm down,” he explained. “Sorry,” he added and I could tell he felt bad about how things turned out.

“Don’t be,” I said. “It was no ones fault but my own,” I said and felt my shoulder’s slump. I knew I never should have let myself feel comfortable with these boys, even for a moment, because just like everything else in my life, it blew up in my face. I slipped my backpack on my shoulders and began to turn away.

“They won’t be mad forever, you know. And I’ll tell them that you hadn’t meant it,” Niall said, biting his lip. “So… if you want to come back tomorrow, you can,” he added.

I stopped on the stairs and looked back at him. “Really?” I asked, my heart fluttering slightly.

“Yeah,” Niall said and grinned. “I enjoyed meeting you, Liam,” he added.

“You too, Niall,” I said and then I left. It was dark outside by now and it took my almost 20 minutes to find my way back to my dorm. Luckily, I didn’t have a roommate yet, though the office said the school easily accepted transfers throughout the year so I should expect one eventually. As I laid down on the uncomfortable mattress, I couldn’t help but think about today’s events. I didn’t care about Andy’s boring welcoming tour though, I was too interested in the situation at the theater. Even after upsetting them all and knowing they probably would still not like me just yet, I couldn’t wait to go back to those boys tomorrow.


	2. Part Two

When the morning arrived, I realized that I had a long day before I would see the boys again. I had only one class today, but I have football practice at 3. I was grumpy as I made my way to my first class, not sure if I could handle waiting until after practice to return to the theater. I guess I could go any time after this class and before practice, but I wasn’t sure if they would be there. Andy did say they were always there, but they had classes to go to, didn’t they?

I walked into my first class, which was English 101. I basically hand selected my schedule and took mostly English and communications classes. I was still debating on a couple majors, so I took classes that were based on my list. The class was quite large but I managed to find a spot to myself near the back. Everyone either ignored me, or really didn’t notice me. As the time grew closer to the start of class, I was a little thankful and embarrassed that no one had come to sit by me or even say hi.

I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing then when Zayn walked into the classroom. He scanned the room for an empty seat, and when he spotted me, he smiled and headed over. I searched his smile for something menacing, knowing how angry he was with me last evening. I shrunk in my seat, hoping he hadn’t actually been looking at me, and he was headed towards someone behind me. But of course, he took the seat right next to me. “Hey there. Liam, right?” he asked. I nodded but didn’t say anything, or even look at him.

 

Luckily I didn’t have to say anything because the teacher came in and began directing class. The teacher, who I don’t remember his name, handed out syllabuses and explained the general details of the class. About half way through his instructions, I glanced over at Zayn’s desk, expecting to see his hands resting there, or at least the untouched paper. Instead, I found Zayn slumped over on the desk, fast asleep.

I frowned. Wasn’t he just wide awake five minutes ago? I looked at the teacher, who didn’t seem to notice that one of his students was currently in sleep land. It wasn’t until the teacher explained that we needed to find a partner for our first assignment that I knew I had to try and wake Zayn up. I could hear the other students begin pairing up and I knew Zayn was my only option. “Zayn?” I said softly, not wanting to yell. When he didn’t react, I gently shook his shoulder. He woke up with a loud snort and he sat up quickly, looking around.

“Crap, did I fall asleep again?” Zayn asked.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry,” I said immediately, my cheeks growing red because I could feel the eyes of the other students on us now. I could tell some were whispering about us, but I chose to ignore them. “We were told to pair up, so I thought—”

“Sure, I’ll be your partner, Li,” Zayn said with a sleepy grin.

“You sure? You don’t have to…” I began.

“Who else would I go with?” Zayn asked with a small shrug as he looked around at the students, sending a few of them glares.

I shrugged. “I dunno, I just thought after yesterday, you wouldn’t even want to talk to me,” I admitted.

“Why? Oh.. That,” Zayn said. “Don’t worry, Niall explained to us that you hadn’t meant it and that you’re sorry. It’s all good,” he said.

“Okay good,” I said, leaving it at that. The rest of the class went smoothly, and I was surprised to find out that Zayn was actually an English major. He initially was an art major, but changed last year to math, then science, and now English. His only reason for changing was because of the bullies in his classes.

I wanted to ask him about the fact that there seemed to be bullies in this class as well, but the class was over and he was in a hurry to leave. I didn’t even get to say goodbye before he was rushing from the room.

Instead, I went onto my next class. That one, as well as the one after, were very boring and I made zero communication with anyone. I had secretly hoped that I had at least one other class with one of the boys, but I had no such luck. By the time 3 o’clock rolled around, I was dreading going to football practice.

Andy said he would meet me in the locker rooms before practice, which was a moment I was dreading. And of course, my cousin didn’t fail to make it the most awkward thing ever.

“Hey little cousin!” Andy said happily from the other end of the locker rooms from where I entered. Curious eyes of large football players in various states of undressed landed on me as I made my way over to the blond haired armadillo of a cousin.

“Hey,” I said, dropping my bag on the bench and beginning to change into practice clothes.

“I didn’t see you at all yesterday. Where’d you go? Oh, and how was your first day today?” Andy questioned, pulling his hair into a tight pony tail at the base of his neck.

“Erm, I met a few people,” I said. “At the library,” I added.

“The library? Gross,” Andy said.

I just shrugged. He could know I was a nerd.

“Didn’t run into any of the freaks there, did ya?” A new voice asked from the other side of me.

“C’mon Kyle, we all know the freaks rarely venture out of their home planet,” Andy commented.

Kyle.

Was this the same Kyle football player that locked Niall in the music room yesterday?

“I won’t be so sure. I saw that little blond one there the other day. I was hanging up my posters for homecoming king outside and that little twat came running out of the building and hit me with the door!” Kyle exclaimed as if it was the worse thing that’s ever happened to him.

“Nasty,” Andy shook his head in disgust. I had to hide my own disgust for how my cousin and his friend were acting. I kept my head down as I finished changing. I wanted to get out of their prescience as quickly as possible, but as I made my way out to the field, the other guys followed out behind me.

“Tell me about it. I grabbed Josh yesterday and went to the music hall to get payback,” Kyle said with a smug laugh. I cringed and glanced back at them.

“Problem?” Another guy asked me, standing beside Kyle, Andy on his other side. I could only assume this was Josh.

I shook my head, looking ahead again.

“Don’t mind him. That’s my cousin Liam,” Andy said.

“The one here on the scholarship?” Josh asked.

Andy nodded. “Yeah. He’s who’s going to take us to the championships!” he cheered, patting me on the back.

“Do you know Niall’s claustrophobic?” I snapped, whirling around to face them as we reached the edge of the field.

The three guys stopped, staring at me in confusion.

“Who?” Josh questioned.

“Niall. The little blond “freak” you locked in that practice room last night,” I said, my tone very stern and angry.

“Of course we knew that. That’s what makes it fun,” Kyle began, looking at Andy in confusion.

Andy just looked confused. “Are those the friends you made last night?” he asked me. “What did I tell you, Liam!? Stay away from them!” he yelled.

I scoffed. “I’d rather be friends with them than you right now, Andy,” I snapped, turning away and going out towards the rest of the team.

I could feel Andy, Josh, and Kyle’s eyes all on me through the entire practice, but luckily none of them said a thing to me. I kept my head in the game, showing my impressive skills off. Some of the other members even introduced themselves to me. Though I was kind to them, I couldn’t help but wonder how many of them also participated in the harassment of the music hall ‘freaks’.

After practice, I didn’t plan on sticking around too long to hear the riot act from Andy and his pals. I jogged off the field to the locker room, intending on just grabbing my bag and getting out of there as soon as possible. Unlucky for me, when I made my way back out of the locker room and towards the parking lot, I found Andy waiting for me. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

I rolled my eyes and continued to walk past him, when he grabbed my arm. “Come back here, Liam,” he said and carefully but still roughly pinned me up against the wall of the building. “Where you headed?” he questioned.

“Is it really any of your business?” I questioned, keeping my voice calm.

Andy sighed and let go of my arm. “I really don’t want to see you get hurt, Li,” he said.

“Are you going to hurt me?” I questioned.

Andy shook his head. “Of course not. You’re my family. But the other football players won’t be so lenient,” he explained.

“Aren’t team members supposed to treat the other members like family?” I asked.

“Yes. And they do. But if you chose to hang out with them, you’re choosing them over us. We can be the best friends you’ll ever find Li, but you have to trust me,” he said.

“What do you suggest?” I asked, not trying to hide the sarcasm in my voice.

He didn’t seem to catch on. “I suggest you stay away from those freaks,” he said.

I rolled my eyes again. “Do you even know their names besides Louis?” I asked.

“I don’t see how that matters,” Andy said.

I just sighed and attempted to walk away again, but he put his hand on my chest and pushed me back up against the wall.

“I’m warning you,” Andy said, his voice stern as he poked his finger at me chest. “If you chose them over us, you’ll regret it,” he said.

I gulped and flinched when his finger poked at me, sending a flare through my chest. Not again, I thought. “I’ll think it over, okay?” I asked, willing to say anything for him to let me go. He didn’t know about my asthma and I didn’t plan for him to find out about it yet.

“Fine, cous,” Andy said and stepped back. “Just be careful,” he added and for the first time that afternoon, I felt that he actually did care about my well being.

I nodded and adjusted the strap of my athletic bag on my shoulder before walking away. As the locker room faded in the distance behind me, I picked up my speed slightly to reach the music hall. I could still feel the painful flairs in my chest, but I wanted to be in the privacy of the music hall before taking out my inhaler. There were too many students wondering around campus now to witness me having to puff on an inhaler.

As soon as I entered the lobby to the music hall, I dropped my bag and rummaged through it for the spare inhaler. Once I found it, I took a quick puff and the pain instantly ceased. I sighed in relief but jumped when I heard a door slam in front of me. I looked up to see Harry staring at me. He looked concern.

I sent him a kind smile and got back to my feet. “Hi Harry,” I said.

He still looked concerned as his eyes flashed to my bag and then back to me.

I glanced at the bag where I had just put the inhaler away. “You saw that?” I asked, frowning slightly. Harry nodded. “I’m fine,” I assured him, stepping closer to him. He chewed on his lip, not seeming so sure. “Really, I am. It was just a small attack, nothing to worry about,” I said and he seemed to relax, even if it was just a little bit.

We stood in uncomfortable silence for what felt like a long time, but was probably less than a minute. I looked around before asking. “Are the others here?”

Harry’s eyes grew sad and he shook his head.

“Oh. Where are they?” I asked, but wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to answer.

Harry looked around before shrugging.

“You don’t know?”

Harry shook his head again and his shoulder’s slumped. He looked like he was about ready to cry. “Come on,” I said and gently put my arm over his shoulders and began walking back towards the auditorium. I really wished Harry could tell me what was wrong. Luckily, the boy seemed comforted by my attention and eventually took the lead in going back into the stage. He turned some of the lights on and we sat together in the center of the stage.

I spotted the deck of cards still sitting there so I decided to start up a game with him to keep his mind preoccupied. It seemed to work and the game lasted for about a half an hour. Harry tapped on the floor and I looked up at him.

He smiled at me and mouthed the words “Thank you”. But before I could reply, he was leaning forward and pressing his lips against mine. I’m not sure if it was just instinct to close my eyes or not, but they closed and I found myself kissing him back, but only slightly. By the time my mind finally caught up to what was actually happening, Louis’s voice sounded through the room and Harry pulled away.

“Harry? Are you here?!” Louis called and I opened my eyes just as more lights turned on around us. I blinked and looked over at Harry, who’s eyes were shimmering in the light. His expression read either, please don’t be mad, or please don’t tell. I wasn’t sure which.

“Oh Harry, thank god.”

I turned around and saw Louis running onto the stage, Niall and Zayn in tow. Harry got up and went to meet Louis half way and they engulfed each other in a huge hug. I stood and watched from afar.

“I’m so sorry, Haz,” Louis said, running his fingers through the curly hair. “We got stuck in traffic on the way back from Zayn’s session,” he explained.

“Session?” I questioned and Louis looked at me in surprise as if only now realizing I was there.

“Yeah,” Zayn spoke up, clearing his throat. “Therapy sessions. I’m bipolar,” he explained.

“Zayn,” Niall gasped softly.

“No, it’s okay,” Zayn shook his head and walked towards me. “I feel like I can trust you, Liam,” he said to me. I said nothing. How was I supposed to respond to that? Thankfully, he continued talking. “I’m on medication which keeps the mood swings under control, but they affect my sleeping schedule a lot,” he said.

“Is that why you fell asleep in class today?” I asked.

Zayn nodded.

“You have a class together?” Louis asked, moving Harry so he was standing beside him, each others arms wrapped around the other’s torso.

“Yea, English 101,” I said.

“Cool…” Louis said, his eyes avoiding mine. “Uh, thank you for keeping Harry company, Liam,” he added.

“It was no problem. Niall said I could come back,” I added.

“Yes, we know,” Louis said, glancing over at Niall and smiling slightly.

“So is it okay if I stay?” I asked, but avoided looking at Harry. I hadn’t known what that kiss meant, and with him not being able to talk to me about it, it was going to make things more awkward between us. Zayn, Niall, and Louis all nodded.

The tension between Harry and I seemed to disperse as we all relaxed on the stage. They asked me questions about my home life and I asked about theirs. Louis explained how he first met Harry when he came to the college on a visit with his parents, and got separated from them. Louis had found the boy hiding in the music wing bathrooms and helped him out. Even then, Harry was mute, but he made an instant connection with Louis. They bonded and the rest was history. The story was similar to that of Zayn and Niall’s. Louis saved Zayn from getting beat up by a bunch of jocks after he fell asleep on the bench next to the football field before practice. Louis then helped Niall out of a dorm storage locker after a couple of jerks locked him in there.

“So you see, Liam, we all are a little different,” Louis said. “I have ADHD,” he added. “Which means I act a little irrational sometimes, but I’m learning to cope with it,” he explained.

I nodded, feeling oddly comforted by that thoughts. We all had a little something wrong with us, and that was okay.

“So none of you beside’s Louis is even involved in the theater department?” I asked, realizing that the theater didn’t seem to be a common factor in their meetings.

They all shook their head. “Well, I play guitar, but it’s just for pleasure,” Niall said. “I’m a bio major,” he explained. “We just all kind of found a sanctuary here,” he said.

“Harry is a history major,” Louis explained. “And Zayn, you switched to English this semester, right?” he asked with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Zayn said, rolling his eyes. “I like to change my mind,” he explained with a shrug.

“I’ll probably do the same once I finally make up my mind,” I said. “Though, I’m thinking of leaning towards communications.”

“Nice,” Niall said and laughed softly, making me smile. He had a very addictive laugh.

“Niall, it’s almost time for supper. Do you want to go with Liam to the cafeteria and get our food?” Louis asked, pulling Harry close to him, in what looked like a cuddle.

“Sure. Want to, Liam?” Niall asked, getting to his feet.

“Okay,” I said, getting up. I glanced over at Harry, who was curled up against Louis, completely oblivious to me or anyone else. I felt Louis’s eyes look at me curiously but I brushed it off as I followed Niall out of the building.

After a few minutes of walking, Niall spoke up. “So, how was football practice?”

“The actually practice wasn’t bad. But you guys were right, the players are douches,” I explained.

Niall chuckled. “Told you,” he said.

“But don’t worry, I’m not going to be like them, I swear,” I added.

“I know Liam,” Niall said, giving me a kind smile.

“You guys didn’t seem so sure about it last night, though,” I said.

Niall shrugged. “Yeah.. But I think I speak for all of us when I say we’ve changed our minds about you, Liam,” he said, his grin very cheeky.

“Oh. Why’s that?”

“The way you hung out with Harry earlier until we got there. That was very kind of you,” Niall said, glancing up at me.

“That? It wasn’t that big of a deal. He kind of saw me on the verge of another asthma attack, and he looked pretty scared without you guys around, so I just kept him company.”

“Yeah, well out of all of us, Harry’s the hardest to get along with sometimes,” Niall explained. “First of all, it’s hard to communicate with him if you don’t understand all his gestures. Louis is the only one that seems to really understand him,” he added.

“They seem really close,” I agreed. Niall nodded and the conversation died momentarily as we went into the cafeteria building. But instead of getting into the line, Niall led us to the back. I wasn’t sure if this was allowed, but Niall seemed to be very comfortable with going through the back doors to the kitchen. He waved at a few of the ladies working there before picking up about 4 bags that were packed with Styrofoam containers. “Bye ladies!” Niall cheered, handing two of the bags to me before leaving again.

“You just take the food?” I questioned, confused as we left the building.

“We pay for it with the meal plans, but Louis pays extra to have them make up our meals like this so we don’t have to eat in the cafeteria,” he explained.

“Oh,” I said. Smart idea, I said to myself, considering their situation.

Remembering where our conversation left off at, I considered my next question. I felt like Niall to be the most trust worthy and honest one out of the group, so I felt I would get the truth from him if I asked. “Niall? Are Louis and Harry… um… well, together?” I asked.

Niall’s brow furrowed. “Together? Do you mean like dating?” he asked and I nodded. He glanced at me and frowned. “Why do you ask?” he asked.

“Uh,” my face paled. “Well, they seemed very cuddly before we left, and well,” I gulped, looking away. “Harry kissed me,” I said.

Niall stopped dead in his tracks, the bags swinging back to hit his lips. “He what?!”

I stopped and looked back at him. “He kissed me,” I repeated. “S-sorry,” I said, seeing the anger flash over his face. What have I done?

Niall’s face twisted up in anger and he grumbled a few things under his breath.

“Maybe I shouldn’t come back…” I said and held out the bags of food.

Niall’s head snapped up to me. “Oh no, you’re coming back alright,” He said and transferred both bags to one hand and used the other to grab my wrist, dragging me the whole way back to the music hall, despite my protests.

Was this where things would get weird? Like really weird, like what Andy warned me about?

“HARRY STYLES!” Niall shouted as we entered the stage area. He dumped the food on Zayn’s lap and I managed to put mine down gently beside him before the blond was pulling on me again.

“What’s wrong, Ni?” Louis questioned. He was holding a trembling Harry.

“Harry kissed Liam!” Niall yelled, but he sounded like a whining teenager.

Louis’s eyes widened and he looked down at Harry. “Harry? Is this true?” he asked.

Slowly, Harry raised his head and nodded slowly. He looked very sad. Louis sighed and gently patted the curly haired boy’s cheek. “It’s okay Haz, I know he’s hard to resist,” he said.

What?

My eyes widened in confusion as I stared at Louis now.

“I thought we were going to wait before making a move on him, but Harry just decided to jump on in!” Niall groaned in frustration.

Zayn pushed off the food and got to his feet, storming over to the scene. “Plus, I thought we agreed it was my turn,” he said, glaring at Harry.

“Leave him alone,” Louis said and gently stood up, pulling Harry up with him. “We all agreed to it happening, Harry just made misjudgment,” he explained.

“Excuse me,” I said, but no one seemed to hear me.

“Well… it wasn’t exactly a misjudgment… I mean, it was very hard not to snog Liam the whole time in class today,” Zayn admitted.

“Yeah, plus we’ve already agreed on it so why don’t we just let this one slide?” Louis asked and Niall rolled his eyes before shrugging.

“Fine,” Niall muttered.

“Excuse me!” I yelled and then all eyes were on me. “Will somebody please explain to me what’s going on?” I demanded.

The four boys all looked at each other shyly. “Oh, um, well, erm,” they all, except Harry, murmured unsurely.

“Well… Louis and Harry are in a relationship,” Niall spoke up, referring to my earlier question and responding with an awkward laugh. “But Harry and Louis are also in a relationship with Zayn and I,” he added.

“Wait… so all four of you are in a relationship together?” I questioned.

They all nodded, staring at me as if waiting for me to flip out. Strangely, I didn’t.

“We were all individually labeled as freaks, Liam,” Louis spoke up. “But our relationship is the main reason why we’re hated so much,” he explained.

“Okay, so could you explain how I fit into all of this?” I asked.

Zayn answered this time. “We all kind of made a connection with you, Liam. We all talked about it last night, and we want you to be apart of our relationship,” he said.

“We hadn’t planned to ask you so quickly, seeing as we’ve only just met you, but Harry kind of jumped the ship,” Niall said, sending a small glare at the mute boy who shrugged.

I stared at them all in bewilderment but also amazement. I wasn’t sure if I was more scared that I wasn’t freaking out, or more scared of how turned on I was.

“You don’t have to say yes right now, Liam,” Louis added, stepping away from Harry and coming to stand directly in front of me. “We can take things slow, get to know each other first. Be friends, and see if you truly belong. But I feel that you do belong with us,” he said and smiled softly, that initial smile that made my heart flutter only yesterday. I felt his hands slip into mine. “We’re all a little different, yeah? I can tell you’ve never felt welcomed anywhere before, am I right?” I found myself nodding, mesmerized my his voice and eyes. “But you’re welcomed here, Liam,” he continued. “Let us be your friends, and possibly so much more,” he said and his breath grew hot on my face before his lips were up against mine. This kiss was similar to Harry’s, leaving the same heart-wrenching good feeling rushing through my body. Louis’s lips moved from mine, leaving gently kisses down my neck as I felt more hands moving around my body. I opened my eyes and found the other three boys all connecting to me and each other so we were all in a large group hug.

“Okay,” I said and smiled, closing my eyes once again as the hands officially welcomed me to their group. If this was what it meant to be labeled a freak here, then bring it on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, this was the ending of the two-shot, but I continued it with individual stories of each boy and a personalized date for each boy to be with Liam, so that's what is in further chapters.


	3. Harry

The boys decided the best way for me to be welcomed into the group, was to go on a date with each boy individually. If I didn’t feel comfortable with one of them, the entire situation would fall apart. Louis, who always seemed like the one in charge of the group, decided to let Harry go first. Out of the group, he was going to be the hardest one to crack. Though it was obvious Harry liked me, the whole ‘not talking’ part of a relationship sometimes became a difficult obstacle. It had taken Zayn months to finally understand what any of Harry’s facial expressions and hand gestures meant. So of course I agreed to go on the date, but I first got the low down of Harry’s story from the other boys. I didn’t want to go in completely unprepared. I learned this from Louis:

In High school, Harry was best friends with the most popular boy in town. His friend, Von, was cool, handsome, smart, funny, and a great athlete. Everyone loved him and because Harry was Von’s sidekick, the entire universe surrounding them loved Harry as well. Or though Harry thought. So what if no one personally invited him to parties? They invited Von, which meant Harry would undoubtedly be tagging along, which meant that the party goers just assumed Harry would come as well. Girls talked to Harry, sometimes dated him, but Harry would always call it a coincidence when those girls would talk more to Von than himself. He noticed, but he didn’t notice enough to realize that all his friends were only his friend because of Von. He didn’t notice until his senior year when Von died.

**

2 and a half years earlier…

 

“C’mon Von, you’re drunk and I’m not leaving you here,” Harry sighed in exaggeration as he lifted his best friend off the grimy couch. The party was still going on full swing, but Von had drank way too much way too fast and was forcing himself a little too much on the sleazily dressed sophomore on the couch beneath him.

“Harry!” Von grinned wildly, but he also looked like he was about to vomit. As Harry lifted the heavier boy off the girl, Von’s attention seemed to move from the girl to his best friend. “I love you,” he mumbled, putting his arms around Harry’s neck and snuggling up against him.

“And I love you, you goof,” Harry chuckled, his voice low and grisly. He often got teased for having such a low voice, especially from Von, but he took it light-heartedly. “Now c’mon, we’re leaving,” he announced, half carrying, half dragging the boy through the house.

Von pouted, but continued to hold onto Harry. “Not to m’house,” he whined. “M’parents will kill meeee,” he sighed.

“That’s why we’re going to my house. My parents aren’t home,” Harry reminded him and laughed softly when he felt Von’s lips on his neck.

“Yayy,” Von mumbled against Harry’s neck and Harry gasped slightly when he felt Von’s hand move to his crotch.

“Not here, Von,” Harry hissed, moving Von’s hand quickly before anyone would see. It was true that the two boys held that kind of relationship, but no one knew that. Von claimed to be as straight as a pin, but Harry was his weakness. Harry claimed to swing both ways, but honestly could care less if he never touched another girl in his life.

Von grinned and nipped at Harry’s neck, and Harry knew the other boy was going to leave a mark. “Oh Harry, you love me too much,” he sighed and stopped nibbling to lay his head on Harry’s shoulder.

“No one can love you too much,” Harry said and opened the car to his beat up mustang. He helped Von sit down, who groaned and curled up in the front seat, forgetting about his horny needs for the time being.

Harry closed the door and went around to the other side, getting in. “Please don’t throw up in my car again,” Harry told Von who only groaned in response. He chuckled and started the car, turning the radio on low so he wouldn’t fall asleep. It was almost 3 in the morning by now.

Von fell asleep right away, but a jolt from the bumpy and winding road they were on made him wake up and remember what he had been feeling just a few minutes earlier. “Hey Hare,” Von grinned like a puppy as he pulled his legs up underneath him and reached over, poking Harry’s cheek.

“Go to sleep, Von,” Harry said, rolling his eyes slightly.

Von pouted and scooted closer. “You know there’s only you, right?” he whispered, breathing against Harry’s neck.

“Hmm,” Harry said. “Not Rachel? Or Kelly?” he asked, sounding a little annoyed.

“You jealous?” Von asked and his lips found Harry’s neck again, his hand moving to rub Harry’s thigh.

“Of course not,” Harry said, but he honestly was. He just would never admit that to Von. As much as he wanted to be Von’s and only him, Harry knew that was never going to happen. “I’m driving, V, can’t this wait?” he asked, biting his lip as he concentrated on driving and not the large hands moving on his body.

“Your house is almost a half hour’s drive,” Von grumbled, seemingly a lot more sober than he seemed at the party. “Pull over,” he whispered in Harry’s ear.

The idea was tempting, but Harry shook his head. “No, because if we pull over, we’ll do what ever you want and then fall asleep, and my parents will return in the morning and totally flip,” he explained.

“Then don’t fall asleep. Pull over so I can have some fun with you, then you can drive us home,” Von laughed softly and his hand finally fell onto Harry’s crotch.

Harry let out a small gasp and wiggled in the seat. “Von, I’m tired,” he explained. “Just wait till we’re home and you can do what you like to me,” he said and felt a pang in his chest at the way he said that. He considered his sexual relationship with Von to be rather equal, but it was still always Von who was in charge. Harry was Von’s, never the other way around.

Von moved away from Harry then, but not without giving Harry’s crotch a final squeeze.

“You’re such a prick,” Harry commented.

Von laughed. “But you love me,” he said, curling up on the seat again, resting his head on the window.

A few minutes later, Harry would hear Von’s light snoring. He turned the radio up a little more, feeling his eye lids grow heavy. He wondered if he had missed the turn because this winding road didn’t seem to end.

Eventually, the radio and Von’s snoring faded into the background, and eventually the grey asphalt road started to fade away.

“Hey,” Von’s voice snapped him out of his daze. “Don’t fall asleep,” he said and reached over to rest his hand on Harry’s thigh.

“I wasn’t,” Harry protested and let out a yawn.

“You were. But I’ll keep you awake,” Von said cheekily and squeezed Harry’s thigh and ran his fingers through Harry’s curls.

“Knock it off. You’re more distracting than anything,” Harry said, but loved the way Von touched him.

“Me? Distracting? Never,” Von laughed and quickly kissed Harry’s lips, making Harry’s line of sight be obscured for a moment. When the road return to view, Harry didn’t have time to properly move the car around the sharp bend, and he slammed on his breaks. The last thing he heard was Von’s scream, and the last thing he saw was his car heading towards a large tree before everything went black.

~

Harry returned to school over 2 weeks later. His parents told him that he never had to go back but Harry insisted. He couldn’t hide forever. From the crash, he only received a small concussion and a scar behind his ear from where he hit it off the window. You were lucky, he remembered the doctors saying.

It was Von that hadn’t been so lucky. He died on impact. Facebook blew up on how it was all Harry’s fault and Harry believed them. Harry was to blame for the death of his best friend. He didn’t betray his best friend by telling everyone what Von had been doing to Harry when he was driving. Instead, he said he fell asleep at the wheel. When that news got out, the remarks on the internet only got worse. Eventually, his parents took his computer away.

Harry could barely process a thought without thinking about Von. His entire life had been centered around that boy, and now he was alone. No one called to ask him if he was okay because no one cared. They only cared about Von, and that guilt was almost too much for Harry. But one night, Harry decided he couldn’t hide forever. He knew someone in that school wouldn’t hate him, right?

He couldn’t have been more wrong. When he went to school, the taunts and remarks were worse than they had been on facebook. “Murderer” “Freak” “He killed him” “Faggot” “It’s all his fault” 

Harry didn’t let them see him cry. He hid in the bathroom for the first two periods, trying to compose himself. He prayed to Von to help him, but then would remember that it was his own fault that everything happened, not Von’s. In the bathroom, he tried to block out the voices in his head, mocking him and screaming at him for killing Von, when suddenly the voices in his head were all he could hear. He raised his head and stared at the bathroom stall door. Only a few moments ago, he could hear his sobs echoing through the room and the teacher babbling away on the other side of the wall behind him. Now he heard nothing.

“H-hello…” he said and he knew he said it because he could feel his vocal cords vibrating, but yet he couldn’t hear his own voice.

Panicking, his fist hit the bathroom stall wall and he saw the structure shake and could feel the pain on his first from how hard he hit, but there was no noise.

He scrambled out of the bathroom, trying to make as much noise as he could, but he was surrounded by silence. He let out a groan as vertigo made him a little dizzy and he paused to catch his breath.

Why couldn’t he hear? His hand went to his ear and he remembered the doctor’s words after he told him he was lucky to be alive. “That hit to your head and ear should have left you deaf.”

Was he deaf now? Harry felt his legs shake as he made his way out of the bathroom. He didn’t know what to do. He guessed he should find a teacher, but even they didn’t seem too happy with Harry because he killed their best student. Harry spotted a girl walking down the hall with a lavatory pass in her hands. He recognized has as a lower classman but he didn’t even know her name. She smiled at him sadly, but just that simple gesture made him call out for help to her.

He wasn’t sure how loud his voice was, but from the look on her face, he assumed it had been pretty loud. She came over to him and Harry could see her lips moving, but he couldn’t tell what she said.

‘I can’t hear’ Harry said, again feeling like he was shouting because the girl jumped slightly. She looked scared, but she held onto Harry’s wrists. She said something else and moved Harry towards the wall, motioning him to sit down. Harry sat down and watched as the girl took off down the hallway.

He waited in utter silence before she came back with a nurse. They both kept talking to him, but when he tried to explain to them that he couldn’t hear anything, they both looked surprised. He didn’t notice as teachers and students began to fill the hallways. How did they know what was going on? Was he really being that loud?

As the nurse continued to try and talk to him, Harry focused on the stares around him. Few of them seemed sentimental while most seemed like they were laughing at him.

Harry tensed up and closed his eyes. He put his hand to his ears and began to hit them, trying to force them to start working again. He knew he was saying something, or crying, or sobbing hysterically by now, but he didn’t care. His entire life sucked! The only person he loved was gone and it was his own fault.

There was a loud crack in his ears and suddenly, the world around him grew in volume and he could hear himself sobbing and screaming as he continued to hit his ears like a mad man. He could now hear the nurse and a teacher telling him to stop and trying to pull his hands away, but Harry was stronger and continued to hit himself as he screamed.

“Shut the fuck up!” Harry heard someone yell.

“God his voice is so annoying!”

“No one likes you! Shut up!”

“You’re such a freak!”

“Shut the hell up already!”

Harry let out one more sob, yelling out “VON!” as the crowd of students all yelled at him to shut up and eventually he did and passed out. That was the last thing Harry ever said.

When he woke up at the hospital, his doctor explained that they fixed the problem with his ears, saying it was permanently fixed now and no more temporary deafness would occur.

Harry said nothing, only nodded. He didn’t return to school either. He finished his courses online and graduated early before going off to college.

**

Present:

“Harry? You okay?” I asked.

Harry looked up and smiled at me. I knew Harry was thinking about his past again. Harry had given Louis the ‘OK’ to tell me the story, which Louis had pieced together from Harry’s journal over the past year.

“Okay,” I said, squeezing the younger boys hand in return. I looked up at the sign above our heads that read ‘Simple Plan 2012 TONIGHT 7PM’. About a week ago I caught Harry looking through my Ipod one day and the boy had a smile plastered on his face when he found my Simple Plan playlist. Harry had bought the tickets and showed them to me the next day. I was ecstatic, not only because I was going to see one of my favorite bands, but I was excited to go on my first official date with one of the boys.

Harry also seemed excited, and he couldn’t stop smiling the entire time we waited in line. I occupied our time by pointing out people’s band t-shirts and bad hair cuts. Harry silently laughed at everything I said, even if it wasn’t funny. Harry once pointed at a girls multi-colored hair and made an exaggerated grimace and I laughed, making the girl look at us. Harry put on an innocent face and pointed at me accusingly.

The girl glared at me and then turned around. I laughed and playfully pinched Harry’s side. “That was mean,” I said.

Harry shrugged, seemingly quiet proud of himself. Then he leant over and kissed my cheek, making my cheeks blush.

When we finally made it into the venue, the room was packed tightly, but it only meant Harry got to stand closer to me. When the band came out, our hands lost each others so we could jump up and down with the crowd and enjoy the concert. Harry mouthed all the words and I did the same. Most of the time we were looking at the band on stage, but I’ve found myself wanting to watch Harry more and it seemed he wanted to do the same.

When “Welcome To My Life” started to play, Harry faced me and grabbed my hands. I’ve always thought this to be my theme song and by the look on Harry’s face, it seemed to be his favorite as well. Harry moved my hands to his ears and I was confused at first. He smiled reassuringly at me and then put his hands over my ears. The screaming fans and loud music muffled into the background. I could still hear the chaos around me, but it seemed like that was happening in another room, and the only thing I was focused on was Harry in front of me.

He began to mouth the words to the song and I smiled, trying to imagine what his voice would sound like singing to me. When I began to sing the words back to him, he smiled but continued to sing. I wondered if he was actually singing, and then I realized that he could have been, but I wouldn’t know because his hands were covering my ears.

That’s the point

, I realized. Harry was singing, whether he was making sounds or not, he was singing to me and I was singing to him in return.

We stared into each others eyes, our hands cupping over the other’s ears as we sang. The entire crowd around us could have fallen down into seizures and neither of us would have noticed.

When the song ended, Harry moved his hands from my head to cup my cheeks. The muffled barrier was broken and the crowd was loud as ever as the lead guitarist threw his t-shirt out into the crowd. I removed my hands from Harry as well and gripped his shirt, pulling him closer to me. We closed the gap between us until our lips were on each other’s in a deep kiss. It lacked the same instinctive power the first one had, but this one was laced with mine and Harry’s emotions from just having sung such a powerful song to each other. Eventually I heard hoots and hollers of the crowd centering in on our little make out scene and we pulled apart, both of us blushing like crazy.

We settled for holding each other’s hands for the remainder of the concert. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life.

We took the bus back to campus, and we sat in the back while Harry showed me funny pictures of the boys on his phone. He had his knees pulled up on the seat with him and he was curled up beside me as he showed me the pictures.

“Aw,” I giggled when he showed me a picture of Niall asleep next to Zayn in the middle of the stage, and Louis throwing glitter on the two boys for a nice surprise when they woke up.

The rest of the pictures were a nice variety of the boys being silly or cute to each other. I frowned when Harry passed over one picture rather quickly. “Wait, I want to see that,” I said.

Harry frowned and I was about to say never mind, but he went back to the picture and showed it to me. It was a picture of Harry sitting on the edge of the stage by himself, staring at Zayn who was asleep in one of the seats. The caption read: ‘Captured by Niall(: Locked so you can’t erase it, Haz! Ha. Love my boys’.

I smiled brightly. “I love it,” I said and looked at Harry who shrugged before opening a blank text and typed in, “I don’t like my picture taken’ he typed.

“Well I like your face,” I said cheesily and pecked his cheek. Harry blushed and closed the phone before resting his head on my shoulder. He fell asleep a few minutes later.

I woke Harry up when we made it back to campus and walked him back to his dorm. Louis had his own apartment just a few miles away but sophomores were forced to live on campus. None of the boys shared, thinking it was unfair to the others, so they all had single rooms.

“Harry, I had a really great time,” I said, smiling at him.

“Me too,” Harry mouthed, his eyes wide and bright. That made me smile even more. I leaned forward and kissed him for the final time that night.

“Goodnight,” I said and then Harry slipped into his dorm. I sighed and made my way back to my dorm hall, which was across campus. The other three sophomores had single rooms but I had a roommate. I barely spoke to him since I’ve been there which was fine with me. He was asleep when I got there and I was happy for that because I couldn’t wipe the grin from my face that Harry seemed to create.

I laid down and closed my eyes, unable to imagine what the other boys had planned for their ‘dates’. I can’t wait, I thought just before I fell asleep.


	4. Zayn

I was feeling jittery during football practice that day. Not only was I still buzzing from mine and Harry’s date the other night, but I was excited for my date with Zayn this evening. We were going to a place in the city, some café, for a poetry slam. We were learning about poetry and our English class and when the professor mentioned the events that happened in the city, Zayn was very eager to take me to one.

“Pay attention, Liam!” I heard the couch yell from the side lines and I mentally yelled at myself for letting myself get so distracted. I moved down the field, keeping my eye on the ball. Practice continued without me tripping or having a flair up, so I considered it to be successful. I also knew the other guys on the team knew something was up with me. They made comments all the time about ‘that look in my eyes’.

“Got a girl on your mind, ay, Li?” Jasper asked after practice.

I grinned and shrugged. “Something like that,” I said.

“Oh come on, I can see it all over your face!” Nick laughed, bumping my shoulder. “You’re in love,” he cooed and the other guys all hooted-and-hollered.

“Possibly,” I said with a blush, extremely relieved that they didn’t know about me hanging out with the four boys in the theater. Not that I would deny it if they asked or knew, but after Louis told me not to come out full force about the boys interesting relationship, I took the warning quite seriously. Louis told me that the 4, now 5-some relationship wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t something they flaunt or talk about with others often. Louis said for my safety, I shouldn’t even tell the guys on the football team I was gay.

 

I caught Andy’s glare from across the locker room. He narrowed his eyes at me before breaking eye contact. Even if the other guys on the team didn’t know about my involvement with the group this very team labeled ‘the freaks’, Andy did. He followed me one day and then confronted me about it. I was so angry about the things Andy was saying about them that I blurted out that I was gay. He had been so disgusted that he didn’t even bother to stick around and question me about the other four boys, he just spit at my feet and stormed off. He hasn’t talked to me since.

I finished showering and changing before heading back to my dorm to get ready for my date with Zayn tonight. I wasn’t exactly sure how to dress…. I’ve never been to a poetry slam before, though from what the professor and Zayn said about them, it did seem interesting.

Zayn met me outside the library. He was wearing casual clothes, but boy did he look attractive in dark colors. “Hey,” I smiled as I reached him.

He returned the smile and slipped his hand into mine. I instantly felt warm. “Ready?” he asked and when I nodded, we began the small walk into town. “How was football practice?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.

I shrugged. “It was okay. The guys keep teasing me though,” I admitted.

“About what?” Zayn asked quickly and I felt his hand tighten in mine. He looked like he was trying not to literally produce steam.

“Calm down Zayn, it’s nothing serious. They just keep saying that I look love struck,” I said, squeezing his hand. “And maybe I am,” I added and he instantly relaxed, getting a goofy grin on his face.

“You know Liam, I never thought I’d have the hots for a jock,” Zayn said cheekily.

“Well I’m glad you all aren’t that close-minded,” I replied and Zayn continued to smile.

When we reached the café, it was pretty much what I expected it to be like. It was dark and cozy with mismatched couches and love seats spread out around a small stage. It was pretty crowded, but strangely I didn’t recognize anyone from any classes I had. Knowing I could relax with Zayn, I let myself be cuddled by the older boy on a couch after we ordered our drinks. Zayn ordered black coffee while I stuck with hot chocolate.

A petite woman hopped onto the stage and announced that the poetry slam was about to begin. She explained how to show your support for each poem with snapping and not clapping, though the way the woman looked at me I had a feeling she was explaining these rules solely for the new kid in the room.

The woman made a little squeal as she left the stage, motioning for someone in the crowd to come up and present their poem. On her way through the crowd, she patted Zayn on the shoulder, giving me a little wink. My cheeks flushed and Zayn chuckled, nuzzling my neck slightly.

“She’s the owner, I know her pretty well,” Zayn confessed.

“Oh,” I said and gulped. “Does she know about you…. And, like, me and the other boys?”

“Yeah. She’s cool about it,” Zayn said and then made a little shushing noise when the guy on the stage began his poem.

I’ve heard many people recite poems before, but this was something new entirely. The way the guy spoke each line and moved about, emphasizing the words with movement and passion, captivated my attention. I not only had to focus on the words he was saying, but how he was saying it.

Once he was finished I raised my hands to clap but the sound of snapping filled my ears. I quickly adjusted my hands and snapped for the artist. The guy simply waved and got down from the stage. I looked over at Zayn and was surprised to see him staring at me. “What are you looking at?” I blushed.

“You,” Zayn responded and his thumb rubbed circles above my hand. “You act like you’ve never heard someone read poetry before.”

“I’ve heard it before, but it’s been Dr. Seuss rhyming presented by monotone preteens,” I said and I found myself laughing. “That was…. Well I don’t know. Amazing,” I shrugged, unable to find another word.

“Well I hope you don’t have too high of hopes, because I’m up next,” Zayn said and sat up, moving to get up.

“Wait, what?” I questioned as he released my hand.

Zayn paused and looked back at me. “I know Louis told you Harry’s story. Now it’s time for you to hear mine,” he said and pecked my cheek lightly before leaving me to go on the stage. He pulled out a crinkled piece of paper from his back pocket.

I sat back in the chair, gazing at the boy on the stage in aw. Zayn had struck me as the quiet boy that didn’t like to involve himself in anything, but this apparently was his element. There was a couple small whoops from the crowd and I realized this wasn’t Zayn’s first time up there.

“Hi, uh, this is my poem entitled “Shot Me”. It’s a little personal but I hope you like it,” Zayn spoke into the mic and I couldn’t help but think how beautiful his voice was.

“I was an artist with a voice but no song

Even I had no idea what was wrong

I was surrounded by people but I felt alone

Tormented and tortured by a source unknown

Making a choice was a challenge each day

I could be incredibly loud with nothing to say

The students would laugh and my fists made them fall

My parents yelled every time the school would call

So they sat me down and said I must go

I was too much to handle and their patience was low

It was worst than the laughter; their shame

Worse than embarrassing, unintentional fame

Didn’t they see I needed help?

Couldn’t they tell I had no way out?

Home was the place where I sometimes felt fine

Where I claimed the thoughts I was glad were mine

They were tired, I know, but what could I do?

I was already breaking but this was there cue

To kick out the boy they once called their son

My soul was dieing and they held the gun

Killing isn’t murder if no one ever knows

So if you’re shooting for the feet, aim between the toes

But aim between the eyes if you’re shooting for the head

Damage isn’t worth it if the victim isn’t dead”

Flashback

Zayn felt a thump on his back but he didn’t bother to sit up and see who it was. He had fallen asleep, again, but it was 6th period with Mr. Kevins and he knew that he didn’t care what the students did. He also knew that Jerry and his dimwitted followers were in this class and often liked to get Zayn riled up.

Zayn didn’t know why the other students liked to make him mad. Was it because it only took a few taunts to get him fuming, or did they like the way he would break down into an emotional mess after he finally exploded? It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t control his anger, or the overwhelming feeling of sadness he often went through. His life was a constant rollercoaster: sometimes he was happy, other times he was sad, and other times he was angry. Nothing dramatic ever happened in his life to make his emotions this unstable; he had a decent home. He used to have friends before his mood swings made them ditched him for new ones. But that didn’t bother Zayn as much because he would rather sleep or write than have to deal with friends anyways.

Something that felt like paper hit his back again and he sat up in his seat, peeling his notes from his face. A girl beside him giggled but Zayn ignored her. He turned in his seat and saw Jerry sitting on top of his desk, laughing at Zayn with his buddies. “Why so tired, Freak?” Zayn cringed at the nickname. “Did you have some guy’s dick up your arse last night or something?”

This remark made the entire room burst into laughter and Zayn looked up at the front of the room to see that Mr. Kevins wasn’t even in the room. Great, Zayn thought and laid his head back down. The gay jokes continued behind him but he tried to block them out. He never actually told anyone he was gay. Everyone in his class just assumed that if he was that weird, he must be gay as well.

“Hey, Zayn?” Zayn frowned slightly, recognizing the voice to belong to Ian, one of Jerry’s followers. He wasn’t as terrible towards Zayn over the years and that caused Zayn to form somewhat of a crush on the boy. He raised his head and saw Ian crouched down beside Zayn’s desk. “Sorry about Jer and them, they’re a bunch of douches,” he said.

“Oh,” Zayn said, surprised that Ian left his pack in the first place, let alone to come apologize. “It’s, uh, it’s alright,” he replied quietly.

“I was wondering if you had the notes from English class? I missed the lesson and I know that’s the one class where you don’t sleep,” Ian asked and Zayn felt a warm feeling in his stomach at the way Ian smiled at him.

“You notice that?” Zayn questioned.

“Yeah, sure,” Ian said, showing off his perfect smile.

“Yeah, okay,” Zayn said and went to turn to his backpack that rested on the other side of him on the floor, when Ian put his hand on top of Zayn’s.

“Wait,” Ian said and Zayn’s eyes flashed down to Ian’s hand on top of his and then to Ian’s eyes. Zayn felt his heart skip a beat when their eyes connected. Ian removed his hand but continued to look Zayn in the eyes.

“Three…..two….one…” Ian was counting down and suddenly, Zayn felt very cold.

“Holy shit!” Jerry yelled out and started to laugh hysterically. Zayn whirled around in his seat to see what the guy’s problem was and saw Zayn’s journal in the clutches of the football player.

“What the hell!?” Zayn yelled and turned to his backpack, finding it wide open. He stood up and saw Ian waltzing back over to Jerry. “You were just distracting me so they could raid my backpack?!” he yelled and stormed through the desks to the group in the back.

“Never thought you’d fall so easily either,” Ian chuckled, making Zayn flush deeply. He turned his attention back to Jerry who continued to flip through the pages of Zayn’s journal as if it were a magazine.

“Give it back,” Zayn demanded, curling his hands up by his sides.

“’I feel so alone, no one understands,’” Jerry read Zayn’s words out loud, saying them in a whining girlish voice. “’I just wish one person would help me figure out why I feel this way,’ wahha wahha,” he mocked and flipped the page.

“Give.It.Back.,” Zayn repeated, feeling the blood rush to his face. He took a step closer.

“Z, you’re even more gay than I thought you were,” Jerry laughed, ignoring the fuming boy in front of him. “Fuck!” he laughed again, his eyes growing wide. “You actually are gay, too!! And guess who he has a crush on!”

Zayn’s eyes flashed to Ian as he and the others all leaned in closer to hear the name. Zayn felt himself moving quicker than he ever moved before and suddenly his hands were around Jerry’s throat. He knocked the bigger boy to the ground and pinned him down, pressing down on the throat with all his might. He didn’t notice where the journal was thrown to, he was only focused on the boy beneath him as his face turned red and his eyes bulged out.

“Fuck! Let him go!”

“Someone help him!” Zayn heard a girl up front yell.

“Get a teacher!”

“He’s gunna kill him!”

“Fucking freak!”

The yells continued until Zayn suddenly released Jerry’s throat. He fell off him and sat on the floor, staring at his hands. He knew he could have killed that boy if he wanted to but he wasn’t a murderer.

“Dude, it’s you!” Zayn heard someone say and he looked over to see Ian holding his journal, another boy peering over his shoulder.

Zayn gulped when Ian looked at him, pure fury in his eyes. Ian threw the journal to the ground and stormed over to Zayn. “Get your faggot eyes off of me, you pervert!” Ian yelled, kicking Zayn in the shin before going to help his friend who was still coughing and wheezing, trying to get air into his lungs.

He stared as Jerry’s friends all gather around him to help him, all while sending Zayn hateful glares. Zayn felt the tears rolling down his cheeks before he even registered that he wanted to cry. His shoulders shook uncontrollably as he began to sob. He scrambled off the ground and attempted to rush out, but Mr. Kevins and the principal blocked the door way.

“C’mon, Zayn,” Mr. Olsen, the principal said, a look of disappointment on his face. Zayn covered his face and let the principal, a man whom he’s had plenty of meetings with over the years, led him out of the class room and down to his office. Once he was sat down in the familiar office, Zayn began to regain his composure. “This was your last chance, Mr. Malik. I’m sorry but I’m going to have to expel you,” Mr. Olsen explained.

“Y-you can’t do that,” Zayn begged. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt him. H-he stole my journal—” he began to explain but Mr. Olsen held up his hand.

“Enough Zayn. You’ve hurt too many students, I can’t have that kind of violence in my school,” Mr. Olsen said and picked up the phone as he dialed the Malik’s home phone. Zayn hung his head in defeat. He didn’t want to get home and hear what his parents had to say….

~

His mum was crying. Every time she looked up at Zayn, she burst into tears and hid her face against her husband’s shirt again.

His dad on the other hand didn’t look sad at all, just angry. “Just as that was your last string at school, that was the last straw for us too, Zayn,” he spoke.

“What?” Zayn frowned, not comprehending what his dad meant.

“We have your sisters to think about and we can’t have you in this house any longer,” his dad spoke clearly.

“Y-you’re throwing me out?”

His dad sighed when his mum hugged his side. “Yes, son. Your sisters and mum and I can’t handle you anymore. We never know what Zayn we’re going to get each day,” he explained.

“’What Zayn?’,” Zayn mocked. “There’s only one me, Dad,” he stated.

“Yes, I understand that but don’t you see that you are hurting your family? We’ve been very patient with you but we can’t handle this anymore. There’s no more arguing over it either, you must go,” his dad said, sitting up a little straighter. “Take what you want from your room, we don’t care, but don’t come back to this house anymore,” he said.

Zayn’s fists unclenched and he stood, going up to his bedroom. He packed his pack with as much as he could before going back down stairs. His dad was now gone but his mum was still sitting on the couch.

“Mum?” Zayn said softly, looking at her through blurry eyes. “I need help,” he begged.

His mum stood up and stared at her son. “You won’t find help here,” was all she said before walking away.

Zayn watched his mum disappear down the hall before going through the front door, never to be welcomed into his own home again.

End Flashback

I felt a tear roll down my cheek as Zayn finished. I couldn’t even get myself to move to give him the snaps he deserved for that. Zayn looked so comfortable on that stage where he poured his soul out. When Zayn came back over to me, I managed to quickly wipe my cheek, but I knew Zayn could tell how emotional I was.

“Are you okay?” Zayn asked, taking his seat again and putting his arms around me.

“Do you really believe that?” I asked, my voice a quiet whisper.

“Believe what?”

“That your soul was dieing?”

Zayn frowned and looked down for a moment before nodding. “At the time, I thought I actually was going to die. To have the only thing I thought was stable in my life be ripped out from under me was like falling forever and not knowing when I was going to hit the pavement,” he said.

“I love the way you speak,” I said, shifting closer to Zayn. A new poet on the stage started her poem and we both went quiet as she recited her poem about butterflies and cupcakes. We both cuddled on the couch, remaining quiet as the rest of the poets recited their poems. As the pre-selected judges all got together to come to a decision on the winner, Zayn nudged me.

“You ready to go?” Zayn asked.

“Aren’t you going to stay to see who wins?” I asked, but Zayn was already standing and pulling on his coat.

“No, I never do. I’d rather take you for a walk,” Zayn said with a cheeky grin.

“Take me for a walk? What am I, a puppy?” I mocked but let him pull me to my feet. I put my jacket back on and let Zayn lead me out of the café.

“You’re my puppy, Liam,” Zayn spoke and nuzzled my neck.

I smiled at that. Normally when girls would comment on my puppy eyes, it drove me nuts, but I liked being called a puppy if I was Zayn’s puppy.

“Do you have more poems?” I asked after we made our way into a park.

“I have plenty,” Zayn said, smiling as he gazed up at the dark sky.

“Can I hear them?” I asked hopefully.

“All in good time, Li,” Zayn said and pecked my cheek.

“Have the other boys heard that poem? The one you read tonight?” I asked.

Zayn nodded. “Yeah, I wrote it right after I was thrown out. I never read it to anyone besides the boys though, so I’m sure the audience enjoyed the whole new side of me tonight,” he shrugged.

“I like all sides of you Zayn,” I said and blushed.

“Oh really?” Zayn laughed and then he gently pushed me back against a tree before pressing his lips up against mine. The night was mildly chilly for an early fall night, but his lips made my spine feel hot. Zayn slipped his arms around my waist and hugged me tightly to him, out hips pressed against each other. I slipped my arms around his neck and slipped my tongue into his mouth. I felt like my heart was going to explode inside my chest. After a few minutes of passionate making out, we pulled apart. “I should get you home,” he whispered. “You have your date with Niall in the morning,” he said with a small smirk.

I nodded slowly. “Yeah…” I whispered but got in one last kiss before he pulled his body away from mine.

He took my hand and we began our walk back to the campus. “How are you now, Zayn?” I asked him as we neared my building.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean about your soul…. Do you still feel like it’s dieing?” I asked hesitantly.

Zayn looked at me and smiled, but didn’t respond. Instead, he walked me to my door. He kissed me for the last time that night and then smiled. “No. With the boys and you, I’ve never felt more alive,” he said and then gave my hand a final squeeze before walking away


	5. Niall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, this is the saddest chapter in my opinion. I cried the entire way through writing it.

Niall looked up at his mom with his big 6 year old eyes. “I don’t understand,” he said softly. 

His mother winced and tried to stop the tears that continuously rolled down her face. She covered her mouth, unable to speak the words again. “I can’t do this,” she sobbed and stood up, rushing out of the room.

Niall, confused, looked up at his father. His dad knelt down in front of him. He also had tears in his eyes, but was seeming to control himself better than his mother had. 

“Daddy?” Niall asked, still not understanding what his mother meant. “What did she mean Greggy isn’t coming home?”

His dad’s jaw clenched and he reached out, pulling his son closer. “There was an accident,” he said. “I’m so sorry Niall, Greg…. he’s,” he stopped and closed his eyes tightly. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes again. “Greg isn’t coming home again because, well, sometimes things happen and God needed Greg up there with him,” he said carefully.

Niall’s eyes widened and began to fill up with moisture. “God? But God’s in heaven,” he said as his childlike mind began to comprehend why his parents were so sad. He rushed into his father’s arms and began to cry. “I want my brother,” he cried, clinging his tiny fingers into his dad’s already wrinkled shirt. 

“I’m so sorry Niall,” his father tried to comfort him, but what was there to say to a young child who just learned that his big brother and best friend was dead?

Niall continued to cry out for his brother until exhaustion over came his frail body.

~

“He was a wonderful young boy.” The man that stood beside his brother was talking about Greg and Niall didn’t like it. This man didn’t know Greg, not really. The family attended his church once a year, but Greg made fun of that man that wore funny clothes. “He was bright and beautiful. He could light up a room and make anyone smile,” the man continued and Niall felt his gut twist. Those comments were true, but they didn’t feel right coming from this man. “He was also a loving brother,” he added and the man’s eyes fell onto Niall.

The young boy looked away, moving his eyes to the bed that sat up on a small stage. Niall wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but he knew his brother was inside it. From this angle, he could make out the curve of his brother’s nose, but that was it. His mom wouldn’t let him go up and see his brother yet. He had to stay where he was and watch as his family members went up to the bed to say goodbye to Greg. He even had to watch strangers go up to him and say goodbye. His dad said they were distance family, or friends from Greg’s school, but Niall saw them as strangers and didn’t want them near his brother. 

Eventually, the man stopped talking and the crowd began to disappear. But his dad still wouldn’t let him go see Greg. “Why can’t I go up?” he asked.

His dad sighed and Niall could see the tears that seemed to be consistently in his dad’s eyes shining brighter. “Just give me a moment, okay, son?” he asked and squeezed his son’s shoulder lightly before walking away. Niall turned in his seat and saw his parents with his grandparents. His mom was crying against his granddad’s shoulder and his grandmother was squeezing his dad’s hands. Niall wanted to cry too. He actually only managed to stop crying because his dad told him he was going to see Greg one last time. He said that his brother wouldn’t be able to talk or move because he was already in heaven, but Niall was glad he would be able to say goodbye.

Only, Niall hadn’t been allowed to go up yet. Seeing that his parents were distracted, Niall took the opportunity to hop down from the chair and ascend the steps towards Greg’s bed. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw. His brother was dressed in a nice suit, though Niall was sure Greg’s only suit had been a grayish color. This one was black, so he assumed their parents bought Greg a new one. Also, his brother’s skin was no longer the same color as it had been a week ago. His brother had a darker skin tone than his brother and it was summer so he often got tan. But now his skin was white, worse than what Niall’s looked like during the winter. Niall wrinkled up his nose as he got closer to the bed, placing his hands on the edge, still too afraid to reach in. The bed was half closed over Greg’s legs, but it looked comfy inside. Also, Greg’s hair was slicked back. Niall knew Greg didn’t like his hair pushed back like that and Niall was tempted to reach in and push it in front of his eyes like he normally wore it. Greg’s skin looked cold and that made Niall shiver. He wondered if they were going to cover him up before taking them to wherever they were going to take him. Niall knew he couldn’t come back home, even like this, and that they were taking him to a cemetery.

Niall didn’t like cemeteries. He went to one once with his mom to put flowers beside a stone. His mom had cried then, so he assumed that now he would cry when he would go visit Greg in his cemetery too. A movement caught his eye and he looked past his brother to see a door swinging closed slowly. He saw a man moving around another bed, similar to the one his brother now rested in, only it looked smaller. The man grumbled something and then walked back out through the swinging door and disappeared down a hall.

Niall slid his hand along the edge of his brother’s bed. It was very shiny and pretty, much like his brother’s new video game. Niall had been very jealous of that birthday present, but now Niall felt a little jealous of the bed too. At his young age, Niall didn’t quite understand why his brother got a new suit and a shiny new bed just to be put in a place that made his mommy cry. He was a little mad at his brother but maybe his mom and dad wouldn’t cry if they knew Niall was with Greg and not alone? “Can I go too?” he asked his brother and then his eyes sparkled slightly as he looked back at the door that had now finished swinging and was shut. 

Niall looked back and saw his parents still deeply conversing with his grandparents, and then walked around Greg and towards the door. He was happy when it creaked open and he slipped inside. He saw the smaller bed, shiny just like his brothers. He went up to it and peeked inside, finding it empty. He looked down at himself. He was in a suit; not as nice as his brother’s but it would do. He gripped the edge of the bed before pulling himself inside. Only the top part was open, so Niall slipped his legs under the other half and settled into the plush pillows. He had to bend his legs a little to fit, but Niall decided that if he got to see his brother again, he could manage the tight squeeze.

Niall closed his eyes and began to daydream about his brother. He didn’t know how his brother got to heaven, and Niall hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to get there. As he counted backwards from 20, he felt his knuckle tapping against the wall of the bed. He always loved music and his granddad once told him he had a talent. Niall wasn’t sure what a talent was, but it made everyone smile. Niall just hoped that this made them smile too. 

Suddenly, as Niall’s tapping got louder, the young boy heard a creak and when he opened his eyes, the lid of the bed slammed closed, leaving Niall in darkness. Niall’s tapping stopped. He was sure the lid wasn’t supposed to close…right? Greg’s had been open. Niall didn’t like the dark. He was told Heaven was bright and happy, not dark and scary like this. Niall felt his tummy start to hurt and he wanted his mommy. 

Niall reached up and tried pushing the lid back open but it wouldn’t budge. “Mom?” he called softly, unsure if he really needed her. Niall wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be apart of the way to get to Greg or not. What if calling for his mom would ruin it and then his parents would be so mad at him for not going to keep Greg company in heaven?

Niall closed his eyes and tried to ignore the darkness. He started counting again. He got a tingly feeling in his legs and tried to stretch out, but his feet pressed against the wall, restraining him from moving much. He let out a small whimper and decided he really wanted his mommy.

He began to kick at the bottom of the bed, pounding on the underside of the lid. He began to cry as the tingly feeling spread through his whole body, even his head. He felt like he needed to stretch, but the confides of the bed wouldn’t let him. He screamed louder for his mommy and daddy and he coughed on his own cries. He noticed he was breathing really fast and it was getting harder to breath. He felt like he was trapped in there for hours, even though it had only been minutes, when the lid opened.

“Niall!” His mother cried out and reached for him, pulling him out of the small bed and cradling him to her chest.

“Mommy,” Young Niall cried, hugging tightly to his mom. The air felt fresher and he was finally able to breath again.

“Son, what were you doing?” His mom asked and Niall cried harder when he heard that she was also crying again.

“I wanted to be with Greggy,” Niall explained, his tiny hands gripping around her neck. “B-but I got scared. I’m sorry mommy!” he cried.

“Oh, Bobby!” His mom cried out and Niall saw his father standing beside them, a horrified look on his face. 

“Why would you do that, Niall?” His dad questioned.

Niall jutted his bottom lip out. “I miss him,” he whimpered and then his dad was hugging both him and his mother at the same time. He realized that his parents were upset at him for trying to be with Greg and not that he failed.

He was transferred to his dad’s arms and he snuggled against his dad’s chest as he was carried back out to the main room. Greg and his bed were no longer there. “Niall, I want you to stay right here for me, okay? Do not go back into that room, or anywhere else, you got it?” His dad asked as he set Niall down on a chair again.

Niall nodded. “Good boy,” his dad kissed his cheek and then left the room with his mom.

After a few minutes of waiting, Niall decided he had to use the restroom. He knew where it was because he saw the signs earlier. He didn’t want to disobey his dad, but he really had to go. Once again, the little boy got up and went through a separate door that led to a hall. He saw a woman standing outside of the public rest room. She was one of those strangers. Niall ignored her sad smile and slipped into the bathroom.

He wasn’t big enough to go in the urinals so he went into a stall. After doing his business, he went to unlock the stall and leave, but the lock wouldn’t budge. All of a sudden, Niall felt that same tingly feeling he felt when he was trapped in the bed earlier. His chest started to ache and cries crept up his throat to choke him.

“Is someone in there?” another boy’s voice spoke from the stall beside him. Niall opened his mouth to speak but the cry he had been holding in slipped through his lips instead.

There were noises as the boy unlocked his stall door and Niall watched the boy’s shadow moving to stand in front of his stuck door.

“H-help,” Niall whimpered, jingling the lock again and the boy on the other side tried to open it too but it wouldn’t budge.

“Slide under,” the boy said and crouched down, peering in at Niall. “Come on,” he encouraged and Niall carefully crawled under the door, holding onto the boy’s hand. “Are you okay?” the boy asked.

Niall felt the tingling feeling disappear when he was finally out of the locked stall. This boy looked like the same age as Greg and he assumed he was one of his brother’s friends. “I want my mommy,” Niall cried.

The boy frowned and then grabbed Niall’s wrist, pulling him out of the bathroom. 

“Sweetie, what are you doing?” the woman from earlier asked.

“He got stuck in the bathroom and started crying,” the boy explained to his mother and his tone only made Niall start to cry more. He didn’t sound like he cared. He sounded like he was taunting Niall for getting scared.

“Niall?” This time it was his own mother’s voice and he was suddenly picked up and was back in her arms.

He ignored the woman’s voices as they conversed with each other about what happened in the bathroom and concentrated on forgetting that feeling out of his bones. He didn’t like being trapped like that, especially in a place where there’s barely any room to move.

As his mother began to walk down the hall towards his dad, he heard the boy say to his mother, “That kid’s weird. Freaked out over nothing. What a freak…”

End Flashback

“Niall?” I said his name carefully. The blond haired boy looked like he had been zoning out for the past couple minutes of our walk. 

Niall’s date for me had been the cliché lunch and a matinee movie, though he had been the one to use the word cliché, where I found it to be very romantic. He said that he just couldn’t afford anything more extravagant. I didn’t blame him and assured him that the date was perfect. Dinner had been splendid. I already knew Niall was a funny guy but without the other boys there to constantly make the boy laugh, I found out that I could make him laugh just as easily. 

The movie had gone well too. We sat in the back, cuddling and holding hands. The movie was good, but a little bit confusing for the Irish fellow because he had to constantly ask me questions. Eventually I lost track of the main plots as well because Niall and I found ourselves in a make-out session. Let’s just say I would have much rather been making out with Niall than watching the end of the movie anyways, so I couldn’t complain.

But something in the younger lad had changed when we were leaving the cinema and it made Niall grow quiet, which was extremely unlike him.

“Hmm?” Niall raised his head and his forced smile made me frown.

“Something on your mind?” I asked gently.

I could see Niall having an internal conflict with himself before he answered. “I just saw a kid at the cinema that reminded me of Greg,” he admitted.

“Oh,” I said and slipped my arm around his waist, pulling him closer. “I’m sorry,” I said comfortingly. He explained what happened to his brother when he was only 6. Apparently, Greg had been swimming at a lake with his friends when he got too far out and drowned. 

“It’s okay, I’m fine,” Niall said honestly and pulled away from me for a moment to open the door to the theatre building. 

“Are you sure?” I asked, but his response was cut off from a shout behind me.

“Liam! Hey Liam! What’s up mate?!”

I turned around and spotted Nick, Jasper, and Kyle walking towards me. I normally got along well with Nick and Jasper, but I purposely avoided Kyle after what he did to Niall.

I saw Andy lingering a few feet back from them, talking with some girl I did not know. He caught my eyes but looked away quickly as if he was embarrassed. He already knew I was friends with the theatre kids, though the other members of the football team seemed to have forgotten my little outburst weeks ago.

“Erm, just hanging out,” I shrugged and then remembered my little conversation with Louis before.

“I don’t want you to have to hide who you are, but it would be better if you didn’t tell your football friends you were gay. Especially don’t tell them you’re with us.”

“With fairy boy here?” Nick asked, raising an eyebrow as he pointed to Niall who stood in the doorway, looking frozen to the ground.

I gulped and before I could respond, Niall snapped out of his daze and let out his signature laugh. “Him? Hang out with me? Never,” he chuckled and then stepped inside the building, closing the door.

Nick, Jasper, and Kyle all shook their heads in what looked like disgust.

“You got me worried there for a moment, Li,” Jasper chuckled, slinging his arm over my shoulders and squeezing a little too tightly. “Good thing I’ve taken you under my wing from the start so you didn’t make acquaintances with those freaks,” he laughed.

“But--” I began to speak, wanting to explain how in fact I was an acquaintance of Niall, and all the other ‘freaks’. I wasn’t afraid of these guys, even if they were going to turn to hate me just as much as they seemed to hate the other boys when I tell them.

“Wanna see if we can get him again boys?” Kyle asked, interrupting me as he rubbed his hands together evilly.

The color drained from my face as I realized what they meant.

“Ya! Let’s go!” Jasper shoved me through the theater door before I even had time to think and Kyle was running ahead of us towards Niall who was just reaching the end of the hall.

“Niall, Run!” I yelled out, finally finding my voice over the chaos running through my head, but I was too late.

As Niall turned around to register my call, Kyle grabbed a hold of Niall’s thin arms and was dragging him towards us.

“What the hell?” Nick asked, looking at me with a confused expression.

“You do know the fag, don’t you?” Jasper moved away from me quicker than lightening. 

I looked at Niall who was trying to get out of Kyle’s strong grasp, but his eyes were trained on me.

“Yes,” I said clearly. “So you better let him go, now,” I stated, trying to sound threatening. 

“Wow,” Nick let out a sigh but then laughed. “Sorry Li, never thought you were that kind of guy,” he stated, looking almost disappointed.

“Let him go,” I ordered Kyle, ignoring Nick’s comment. I stepped closer to Niall and Kyle, ready to take action, when I felt Jasper grab a hold of my neck and yank me back. “What the heck!” I yelled out, compensating for the small cry I held in because Jasper was a lot stronger than he looked.

“It seems to me, Liam, that you’ve chosen who are your friends, so why not join in on all the fun he deserves too?” Jasper nodded to Niall, sounding very menacing as he moved his grip to my arms and squeezed tightly. 

“Deserves? I don’t think anyone deserves to be bullied,” I spat. “Yes, bullies, that’s what you guys are. Seriously? This isn’t high school, grow up!” I yelled. I hated when people tell others to grow up but it felt appropriate here.

Unfortunately, these guys didn’t seem to take my yelling as anything important. Kyle only laughed and dragged Niall towards a small closet. “No! Please!” he cried, making my heart clench.

I tried pulling out of Jasper’s grasp, but then Nick joined in on holding me still. I watched as Kyle yanked open the closet and threw Niall in. 

“Niall!” I called his name as I heard the noises of what sounded like him falling onto buckets and other cleaning supplies. His whimpers only made the other three jocks laugh harder and I felt sick. Why had I ever agreed to be friends with them?

“Your turn!” Nick smirked and began shoving me towards the closet. I struggled, obviously I wasn’t going to just let them lock Niall and I in a closet, especially with his claustrophobia. But Nick and Jasper’s holds were too strong and I was unceremoniously shoved inside. I tripped over the cluttered floor and fell on top of Niall, unfortunately unable to catch my fall due to all the buckets and mops in the way. 

“I’m so sorry Niall,” I said immediately as the door slammed behind us, shutting out the light.

“It’s okay,” Niall spoke in a quite voice and I knew his panic was starting, but he wasn’t ready to show it to me just yet.

I slowly got up from the mess of cleaning equipment and turned on the light. It was very dull and looked like to be from the 90’s. Not only was the lightening terrible, but this closet had to be smallest closet I’ve ever seen. I could barely extend my arms across the width. I helped Niall to his feet and he immediately began to stack up the buckets to make the floor seem less tiny, as I tried to door. 

The lock wasn’t locked but the door was jammed. They must have jammed it with a chair or something. 

“It’s no use,” Niall whispered and I heard the hitch in his voice.

I turned to him and saw him standing directly under the light, his arms wrapped around himself just as he had them when I first saw him locked in the practice room almost a month ago. I tried the door again, slamming my shoulder against it, but like Niall said, it was no use. I looked back at Niall and saw the tears in his eyes. “Is it better if I stay away, or….?” I asked, unsure.

Niall shook his head and held open his arms. I moved to him quickly and hugged him tightly. “Just pretend we’re in the theater, on the stage,” I said to him as I held his trembling body. I blinked and then the light above our heads flickered off. Niall whimpered and shook against my body. 

I held him tighter. “Louis just turned the lights off, right? He wants to scare Zayn and make him think we all left him when he wakes up from his nap,” I said, closing my eyes as well. “I know you’re afraid of the dark, so I found you. But we are standing in the center of the stage, the room is open, wide, and there’s even a breeze because Harry propped open all the doors to the auditorium,” I described.

I heard Niall sniffle and shift in my arms so that his head is raised. Then I felt his hands on my head and he lead our mouths together. The kiss lasted a few tender seconds before laughter broke the moment.

It was Kyle, Nick, and Jasper on the other side of the door. I had thought they had left already. Niall whimpered again and buried his head in my chest. “Sit down Ni, I’ll be right back,” I said and led him to the floor. I moved through the darkness to the door. “Guys, this isn’t funny anymore,” I yelled through the door.

“It’s hilarious from over here, Liam,” Kyle cackled.

“Is he crying yet?” Jasper asked.

“He’s probably freaking out crying ‘Let me out, I can’t breath!’” Kyle mocked Niall and I felt my blood curdle. 

“Let us out!” I yelled and once again slammed my shoulder up against the door, attempting to force it open. The stubborn wood only made my shoulder flare up in pain, but I did it again and again until I heard their laughter fade away. “Assholes!” I screamed at the top of my lungs but then sucked in a sharp breath, though it was supposed to be a deep breath, but it ended up behind quick. Quick and painful.

I backed away from the door and made my way back to Niall. He curled to my side instantly and I rested my chin on the top of his head. I took a slow breath but couldn’t hide the wince this time.

“Li? Are you okay?” Niall whispered.

This is really bad, I thought and slowly the tears formed in my eyes as I succumbed to the asthma attack. “N-No,” I coughed and my chest rattled.

As Niall figured out what was going on, he sprung to his feet and I heard him literally throw himself at the door. “Let us out! Help! Liam needs help!” he yelled louder than I ever thought possible. He stumbled through the dark space back to my side and hugged me tightly, almost straddling so we were pressed against each other. Our hiccupping and rattling chests breathed against one another’s. 

“Niall, stay calm, please,” I begged, but I knew if we didn’t get out soon, I was going to be in serious trouble. I hadn’t had an attack in weeks so I didn’t feel the need to take my inhaler with me lately except to practice. Obviously, that was a mistake.

“Liam, I’m scared,” Niall trembled and hugged me tighter. 

I closed my eyes tightly, feeling the tears rolling down my cheeks. I knew Niall knew I was crying because the tear drops were rolling from my chin to his neck.

My body twitched slightly and if there had been any light, I knew my vision would have slowly been darkening by now. Niall adjusted my body so I was laying down. “Breathe Li, please,” he sobbed, gently caressing my aching chest with his hands. 

I tried to speak but the pain was just too much. “Liam, please,” Niall cried softly. Was I really going to die in a supply closet in front of the most precious and fragile boy I know?

“Liam? Are you in here?” A familiar voice called.

I felt Niall move away from me again. “We’re in here! Please! Help us!” Niall begged and then I heard the door open a few moments later.

“What the hell?” Andy muttered as he opened the door, seeing me laying on the ground, Niall already trying to move me.

I felt my eyes droop closed as Niall and Andy lifted my body up and carried me out of the closet. They laid me back down in the lobby of the theatre room.

“He’s having an asthma attack, I don’t know where his inhaler is,” Niall was explaining, his voice still shaking.

I opened my eyes again, trying to tell them where it was, but my lungs just clenched and my throat refused to produce sound. Plus, they wouldn’t get to my dorm or the locker rooms and back to me in time.

“I don’t know what to do,” Niall admitted with a whimper and my eyes closed tightly, unable to stand seeing the look of utter devastation on the younger boy’s face. This wasn’t his fault.

“Liam, open your eyes,” Andy said and I felt my head being lifted. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes and my heart leapt at the sight. In my cousin’s hands rested an inhaler, one identical to the few I had scattered in my dorm and at home.

I forced my mouth open and he put the mouth piece between my lips, initiating the shots of the medicine for me. The relief that spread through my body was unimaginable. All I kept thinking was, I’m not going to die, and that was the happiest thought of my life.

Though my body was still reacting to the medicine, and I was still pretty weak, Andy and Niall helped me to my feet and we made our way to the auditorium.

“Oh god, what happened?” Zayn asked as we entered the side door. Andy and Niall helped me down into the front row of seats.

Harry, looking extremely concerned, hurried to the edge of the stage and hopped down, rushing over to us. 

“Those jerks locked Liam and I in a closet and he started having an asthma attack,” Niall explained, rubbing my back softly.

“Jerks like you?” Louis questioned as he glared at Andy, seeming to appear from no where as he jumped down from the stage and approached us.

I shook my head but Niall answered for me, “He’s the one that let us out. And he had an inhaler for Liam,” the blonde explained.

“He’s my cousin,” I added as I took another puff from the inhaler. My chest still hurt like hell as well, but I knew nothing but rest was going to help that.

“So you’re the Andy that warned him about us, huh?” Zayn asked taking a small yet daring step towards Andy.

“Whoa, calm down, will ya?” Andy snapped, but backed up slightly. Harry took this opportunity to take the place beside me. He cuddled against my side.

“Stop,” I said, giving both Zayn and Louis a pleading look to back off of Andy.

The two protective boys looked uncertain about backing down, but after one more glare to the tall blond, they moved to crouch in front of me, putting their hands on my knees.

“Are you alright,?” Louis asked.

“Yeah, I’m good,” I replied, honestly feeling a lot better. “Niall, are you okay?” I turned to him.

Niall smiled and then hugged me tightly. “I’m fine, Liam,” he said.

I hugged him back, extremely proud of him. I wanted to tell the boys how he momentarily got over his claustrophobia just to pound on the door to get me help. I wanted to brag about Niall’s bravery, but not in front of Andy. “Guys… can I talk to Andy alone please?” I asked.

The boys all looked suddenly sad and I noticed Harry seemed extremely worried. “Just go up on the stage then?” I suggested and reluctantly they all made their way back to the stage. They would still hear everything but now I didn’t have them crowding around me. I looked at Andy. “How did you know we were in there?” 

Andy slowly took a seat beside me. “I didn’t. I figured the guys must have done something though,” he shrugged.

“Why’d you come looking for us?”

“I was looking for you to apologize,” Andy admitted. “I never should have threatened you like that. You’re my cousin and I should support whomever you decide to be friends with,” he said, glancing up at the stage with a questionable gaze.

I decided to let that look slip. If he was willing to at least act accepting, it was better than nothing. I fumbled with the inhaler in my hands and then realized, “Since when do you carry an inhaler?”

“It’s not for me. It’s for you,” Andy explained and I raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think your mum would let you come here, basically only having me here to look after you, and not call me every week for an update? I've known about your asthma for a long time too, no thanks to you. Your mum does like to inform her sister of when you've had trips to the hospital, ya know,” he explained.

“Wait, so you’ve known the whole time? Why haven’t you said anything?” I asked, surprised.

“Well first I was ticked that you didn’t tell me yourself,” Andy admitted. “But then my mum told me that you were probably embarrassed, so I just never brought it up before,” he explained.

“And the inhaler?”

“I noticed you don’t actually take it out on the field with you. And yes I’ve checked. So I keep one on me most of the time, just in case,” Andy explained.

“Wow… that’s actually, well, nice,” I shrugged slightly, bewildered by this information.

Andy merely shrugged, growing quiet.

I looked up at the stage, seeing the boys all sitting together, staring at me in awe. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“Well, I should go. I have some asses to kick for harassing my kid cousin,” Andy said and stood up, cracking his knuckles.

“Don’t do that,” I said immediately and Andy chuckled.

“I won’t. But I’m not going to let them do it again, okay? I’ll try and talk some sense into them, okay?” Andy suggested and I couldn’t help but nod, agreeing to that. If it would help with the harassment on the boys, it was worth it. “Now go have fun with your friends,” Andy said. “Or should I say, more than friends?” he questioned, giving me a wink. My cheeks turned red but he merely tussled my hair and then left.

My attention was reverted from my cousin’s retreating form when I heard the boys all jump off the stage again and return to my side.

“So he’s not as bad as I thought…” Louis admitted.

“Still don’t like him,” Zayn muttered but then his expression softened. “But he cares about you,” he added and leant down, kissing my lips.

“Hey! It’s my day to do that!” Niall complained and then I felt Niall pull Zayn away.

Harry wrapped his arms around my shoulders again and his lips danced across my neck.

“Geesh, can’t a guy come out of the closet with a guy and get to at least snuggle with him alone for one minute?” Niall playfully aspirated, flopping down beside me.

I chuckled and pulled him closer. “Of course we can snuggle, my little leprechaun,” I said and he grinned happily. Louis propped himself up on my lap and Zayn basically crawled on top of Harry to reach me better. They all managed to get their hands around me or get their lips on my skin, and we stayed like that for quite a while.

“Hey Lou?” Niall spoke up and chuckled slightly before even saying it. “When you have your date with him next week, try not to kill him. It’s not a tradition I’d like to keep up.”

The boys and I let out a small chuckle and cuddled closer.


	6. Louis

When I went to football practice, things went a lot more smoothly than I expected. No one talked to me as I entered the locker room. The guys I once called my friends ignored me and they had already moved their lockers away from mine. It reminded me of the treatment I received in high school. I couldn’t help but think how petty it was.

There was a hand clamped down on my shoulder and I flinched, whirling around and yanking the hand off. It was instinct really, and especially after the incident last week, I wasn’t going to let some jock pummel my face in.

“Relax, Li, it’s just me,” Andy said and I literally collapsed onto the bench behind me in relief.

“Sorry,” I said immediately. “I thought you were….” I trailed off. I hid my shaking hands in my gym bag, pretending to search for my shoes.

“Going to hurt you?” Andy finished for me and I looked up at him, slowly nodding. “No one’s going to hurt you here,” he said, taking a seat beside me. “I can’t promise you they’ll be all buddy-buddy with you now… but if anyone gives you hell, they’ll have to report to me,” he stated, putting a much gentler hand on my shoulder this time.

“Thanks,” I said honestly and Andy patted my back slightly before he dressed and went out to the field.

I dressed slowly, wanting to stall before having to go out onto the field. Sure, Andy threatened everyone to leave me alone, but now that’s exactly what I was; alone.

By the time the locker room was empty, I was half tempted to just stay in there for the entire practice. I knew my teammates wouldn’t care if I just skipped practice. I was contemplating the idea when someone walked into the locker room.

“Why the long face?” Louis’s voice echoed through the large locker room and I looked up in surprise. Louis was standing in front of me wearing what appeared to be his “working out/sports clothing” but it being Louis, it always had to be fashionable and very sexy.

 

“What are you doing here?” I asked, unable to hide my smile as I stood up. Just his presence made my bad mood falter away.

“I talked to coach and he said I can join practice today!” Louis said happily, already moving behind me to shove his bag into my locker.

“He did?” I asked in a surprised voice. “I didn’t know you even knew him.”

“He used to teach the ultimate Frisbee team and I played last year,” Louis explained with a shrug. “I kind of told him that you were having a hard time with your mates on the team and asked if I could just practice so you didn’t feel left out,” Louis explained, wiggling his feet that were dressed in rather expensive looking sneakers. With that, he wore slim fitting black gym pants that perfectly shaped his bum, and a t-shirt made out of the same slim fitting material.

“I had no idea you ever played a sport,” I admitted with a shy laugh.

Louis shrugged. “It was just for fun. Do I not look like the sporty type then?” he gaped at me playfully.

“Honestly no,” I chuckled and stepped up to him. “You’re Louis. You’re delicate,” I said, slipping my arms around his small waist. The boy was tiny, especially now in tight clothing. “I don’t want you to break.”

Louis let out a small laugh. “That’s sweet, Lili, but I can handle one day of practice. I just had a feeling things were going to be tough today,” he shrugged.

“I was actually going to just bail out today…” I admitted to him. “No one’s said anything yet, but I think just the looks they’re bound to give me is going to be enough to hurt me,” I sighed.

Louis kissed my cheek. “This is a big team, I’m sure not everyone hates you. But I’m just here for moral support, alright? But if I embarrass you, I am apologizing before hand,” he explained.

“You won’t embarrass me,” I said and then kissed his lips lightly. “Let’s go,” I said and took his hand before leading him out to the field.

We released hands once we got outside and approached the field. The coach didn’t say anything about the new member practicing today though the other team members gave us both dirty looks. Every time I looked at Louis though, he was looking at me. While I was making sure he was okay, he was making sure I was okay, and I was okay. With Louis next to me, and Andy standing close to me too, I felt okay.

It was a simple practice today, mostly with running ladders and reviewing plays. Louis stuck close to my side for the majority of the practice and I was thankful for that. He managed to keep up well with the physical aspect of it all, though by the time we got to our final couple minutes practice, I could tell he was struggling.

“You alright there, Lou?” I questioned as he trudged on beside me on our way back to the locker rooms.

Louis just nodded, still trying to catch his breath. He stopped outside the locker rooms at the water fountains to get a drink.

As I waited for him to finish, I noticed a small group of guys heading towards us. I never really talked to these guys before; they were pretty much bench warmers during games. I thought maybe they were coming to harass me and Louis but they all seemed pretty at ease as they approached.

“Hey, Liam,” one guy said, holding on his hand towards me.

“Um, hi,” I said, hesitating before reaching out and taking his hand.

“I’m Jeremy,” He explained. “This is Frankie, Mike, and Paulo,” he introduced is pals to me.

I nodded, giving a small smile, unsure of exactly what to do. I looked over to Louis who had finished drinking his drink and was leaning up against the wall, still catching his breath.

“Don’t kill me, Li, but I found you new friends. Tada!” Louis smirked and the group of guys chuckled slightly.

“Louis approached us while you were working on passes with Andy earlier. He said you’re not doing too well with the other team members?” Jeremy asked.

I gawked at Louis, surprised and a little confused on why he would do that. But then again, he was spending his only free afternoon at my football practice.

“Don’t worry, they don’t like us either,” the boy named Mike chimed in. “We’re not bad guys and we won’t judge you for… well… anything,” he said.

“Oh, okay,” I said. I was really bad at this.

“Basically, I noticed these guys aren’t a bunch of douches,” Louis explained, putting his arm over my shoulders. “Thought if you had someone to talk to, the other guys would leave you be.”

“You mean you don’t want to come to every practice with me and be my only friend?” I teased.

Louis let out an exaggerated sigh. “I care about you and all, but I think I’m going to need an inhaler if I keep this up,” he admitted and pulled me into a hug.

The group of guys all waved and said their “’see you laters‘” to me before leaving us be.

“Thank you,” I whispered into Louis’s ear. I was basically holding him up as we hugged due to the fact he was leaning on me so much.

“No problem,” Louis said, yawning and laying his head on my shoulder. “Will you carry me home?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes but then lifted him off his feet. “Let’s go, my princess,” I laughed but Louis only grinned, pecking my cheek as I carried him to the locker rooms, honestly not giving one care about who saw us.

~

“Do you know any of the actors in the show tonight?” I asked as we walked hand and hand towards the Williamshire Theatre located about an hour away from the university campus.

“Yeah, a couple of them went to Jefferson and I know them pretty well,” Louis explained with a smile. I could tell the theatre made him happy: it was his comfort zone.

“I know you’re directing the next show at uni, but when am I going to see you perform?” I asked, rubbing my shoulder against his. I’ve witnessed him jokingly act scenes out with Niall, but I have yet to see him do it seriously.

“In the spring, I’ll most likely get the lead in what ever we’re doing,” Louis said excitedly.

“You seem very sure of yourself there,” I said with a laugh.

“Well there’s only one other senior in the theater major and she’ll get the female role, obviously. Casting goes by seniority and skill,” Louis explained.

“That makes sense,” I shrugged slightly.

Louis’s smile didn’t disappear as we made it to the theatre. He handed me my ticket and we went inside, finding our seats. I could tell he was excited, but I wasn’t sure if it was for the show or the fact this was his first official date with me. As soon as he got comfy in our seats, he clutched his hand around mine and was nuzzling his face in my neck.

“I’m so happy you’ve agreed to this,” Louis said against my neck.

“Why wouldn’t I agree to come see a play with you?” I asked. “I love the theatre.”

“No, I meant the relationship,” Louis said, squeezing my hand. “I know it’s not typical… or normal at all really,” he said and I looked down at him to see him shrugging apologetically.

“It’s rare, true, but I’ve never felt so… comfortable before,” I admitted. “Being with you all… it’s like home,” I admitted with a shy smile.

Louis’s smile only grew and he leaned over, kissing my lips just as the lights dimmed and the curtains opened.

Flashback

Louis ran his hand along the thick red curtains. They were torn and old, but he didn’t care. While he was hidden in the wings, he could still see the stage, feel it under his feet. The stage was old because the building was old. The wood creaked under his feet but the shine from the multiple polish jobs made him want to spin around right then and there. But no, he had to wait until after his audition before he would truly feel welcomed there. He was only in year 7, barely 12 years old, but ever since his mum took him to see Pinocchio in their local theater, he had been patiently waiting until he got secondary school so he could audition for the school’s plays.

It was a big school and their theatre program was kind of a big deal. The shows normally pulled in hundreds of pounds each night because the students were just that good. Louis wanted to be one of those actors: he wanted people to come see the show just to say they saw Louis Tomlinson perform live. He wanted to feel the lights on him as he sang, danced, and acted. He craved for the thrill that happened when an audience rose and cheered from him at the end.

Of course, Louis never really felt that before. He only imagined what it felt like to act in a play, or sing and dance for an audience. But his imagination and doing little skits for his grandparents every other weekend wasn’t enough to fulfill his desire: he needed a real stage.

So there he was, waiting patiently for his first chance to be involved in something life changing for him. He was literally bouncing with excitement and nerves.

“Calm down, you’re going to distract that girl,” Dementia said from behind him. Her eyes were staring at the girl on the stage who was singing her lungs out to who ever was assessing the auditions.

“She’s really good,” Louis said, physically unable to stop fidgeting, but he did manage to stop jumping. “She’s in 10th form I think,” he explained to her.

Dementia was Louis’s one and only friend. In the start of primary school, Louis had lots of friends. He was funny, talkative, and happy all the time and the other young kids loved him. But the couple of years after, his teacher hadn’t been so lenient about his sporadic behavior and his peers seemed to have grown tired of him as well.

Instead of laughing at Louis’s outbursts in the middle of class, his old friends rolled their eyes and said he was annoying.

When he asked his parents why no one liked him anymore, they explained that they were growing up. Louis had been appalled by this. They were only 7 and 8 years old, how could they have grown up so fast? Louis’s parents explained that Louis’s behavior wasn’t as funny anymore. It wasn’t that the other students were old or not child-like anymore, they simple matured quicker than Louis.

For a short while Louis accepted this: if his friends just matured quicker than Louis had, then he would just have to wait until he did as well. Unfortunately, that never seemed to happen. As the years continued, his peers only grew more and more annoyed of him. But instead of just rolling their eyes or calling him annoying, they started calling him meaner names. If anyone would talk to him, it was to tell him to shut up or leave them alone.

At school, Louis pretended he didn’t care. He laughed it off and simply explained that one day he’d be just like his simple minded schoolmates because his mum told him that everyone grew up eventually.

It wasn’t until year 5 that his parents explained to him what ADHD was and how Louis now had to take pills to calm himself down. Louis didn’t like the pills because they made his tummy hurt sometimes if he didn’t eat breakfast. Also, his parents told him that if he was calmer, he may make more friends.

He didn’t. The “magical pills” as he called them did absolutely nothing to help him make friends. If anything, they only made Louis grow more sad. He came to the conclusion that he wasn’t ever going to be like his schoolmates.

That all changed when Dementia moved in next door. She was one year older than Louis and was already in Secondary school by the time Louis and her met. Louis’s parents invited her family over for a welcoming dinner and the parents awkwardly introduced their children to each other. At first, Louis didn’t like Dementia. She wore weird clothing that was too big on her petite body and her hair hung in her face too much.

But when she started asking him questions about the video game he was playing in the living room after dinner, and Louis saw her smile, he decided she wasn’t so bad. After hours of playing the video game together, Louis came to the conclusion that she acted a lot like Louis himself: always laughing and joking around. He liked this.

They spent all summer together and Louis even admitted to her that he had ADHD. He had tried explaining this to one of his schoolmates before but the boy had only stared at him like he was a monster. But when Dementia learned this, she only smiled and said, “That’s cool. Do you want to go swimming now?”

So that’s how Dementia became Louis’s one and only friend. She didn’t have many other friends herself, but even if she had 2, she had more than Louis did if you didn’t count his hamster.

“Yeah, she is,” Dementia agreed, her attention moving from the now dancing school girl to Louis. “Are you nervous?” she asked, grinning widely from ear to ear. Her hair was now pinned back out of her eyes, unlike like the first time Louis saw her.

Louis shook his head. “Of course not!” he grinned.

“Good. You‘ll do great,” Dementia encouraged and gave her best friend a hug just before his name was called.

Louis plastered a huge smile as he walked onto the stage. The lights were turned down so he was able to see the year 11 students sitting with the theatre director in the front row, but they were still bright.

“Hi, I’m Louis Tomlinson and I’ll be auditioning for the role of Albert Peterson,” Louis began confidently. But his smile fell when the group in the front row began to laugh.

“You do realize that’s one of the leads, right?” One girl literally could hardly speak the words she was laughing so hard.

Louis gulped and his face fell. “Yes,” he said. “I-I know I probably won’t get it, but—”

“Then why are you even trying?” One boy asked, shaking his head.

“Well, honestly, the characters audition pieces you posted were better than most, so I thought—”

“You can’t pass for an adult. Though you could probably pass for the character of younger brother,” another girl chirped in. “We were going to use my 6 year old cousin but you look about the same size.”

The group only laughed harder.

Louis’s face grew crimson red and his arms moved around his frail body. He knew he was tiny: he was very aware of that fact, but he didn’t like these strangers comparing him to such a young child.

The director, the one person Louis thought wouldn’t have laughed at him, but did, shushed his priority students and finally addressed Louis personally. “Sorry, son, you may continue with your audition,” he said, though Louis could tell he was still finding the situation amusing.

Louis knew he wasn’t going to get the role he announced, but none of the other parts had good songs. He just thought that if he could show his skills, he would at least be added to the ensemble or possibly a small role. But now the lights didn’t feel as welcoming: they felt like they were suffocating him.

The group in front of him killed their laughter and were now staring at him with biased scrutiny. Louis knew what he was supposed to do: he was supposed to recite the monologue he memorized for the audition. He knew all the words, they were resting on the tip of his tongue, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.

He closed his mouth again and his eyes grew wide. Why am I not speaking?! he thought drastically to himself. He felt his hands begin to sweat and his knees felt like they were beginning to shake. He’s never felt like this before: nervous. He’s the confident child with no care in the world, but now he couldn’t function.

“Um… you may start,” the director announced and Louis felt himself nodding.

But instead of beginning his monologue, or even thinking to start singing or dancing at this point, he stood frozen on the stage. He could hear Dementia in the wings shuffling about nervously for him, but if she was saying anything to him he couldn’t hear.

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” the director sighed and Louis snapped out of his daze.

“N-no!” Louis gasped. “Um, …“I know that, sir, but think of the disastrous effect this might have on the morale of the American teenager! No, I am not suggesting the boy doesn’t want to go into the Army!

It’s just that… no, I’m not trying to…”” he recited, but instead of playing it out like he had practiced so many times in front of the mirror, it came out in a rush with no emotion.

Even though he knew what he was doing was terrible acting, he still went to continue until the director held up his hand. “That’s enough. You may leave now,” he explained and Louis stopped and stared at all the faces judging him.

The students all began to laugh again and suddenly Louis felt sick. He wasn’t sure if his tummy hurt because of the situation or if his ADHD medication was hurting him because he didn’t eat breakfast again. He turned just enough to grab a box prop, turn it over, and throw up into it. The laughter around him died but then the comments started.

“What the hell?!”

“That‘s disgusting!”

“Freak! Get off the stage!”

“He’ll never be in a play now! Gross!”

Louis’s mind went hazy after that. His whole body shook from embarrassment and shame.

“Come on Louis,” he heard Dementia lead him off the stage. She walked him home and Louis locked himself in his bedroom for the rest of the night.

End Flashback

Louis stood beside me as we clapped for the final bows of the performers. The play was amazing and I could tell Louis was captivated by it the whole time. When I went to grab my coat and leave after the curtain fell, Louis pulled me back into my seat and put his arms around me.

“Did you enjoy the play?” I asked him as he nuzzled my neck.

“Yes. Did you?” Louis asked, planting a soft kiss on my jaw line.

“Yes. Still can’t wait to see you perform though,” I said, slipping my arms around him. The audience was thinning out now but I didn’t care who saw us. It wasn’t like gay males weren’t common in the theatre world.

“All in good time,” Louis said, kissing my neck gently. “I’m still new at it,” he explained smugly, though I couldn’t tell he was smirking.

“New? I thought you said you’ve known that’s what you wanted to do with your life from a young age,” I said, a little confused.

“I did. But I never did the plays at my secondary school until my last year, and I skipped the plays for my first year at uni,” Louis shrugged.

“Oh. I never knew that,” I admitted but Louis only shrugged again. I always figured he was performing at a young age.

Louis moved in his seat so his feet were propped up on the seats in front of us. I figured he didn’t plan on leaving for a while so I put my feet up as well. He grinned and put one of his legs over mine. I liked having him so close.

“Why’d you skip a year?” I asked, curious as to why he would start doing plays in high school, but then not do it the year directly after.

Louis’s smile fell slightly. “My best friend….” he gulped. “She killed herself that year,” he explained and my face dropped.

“I’m so sorry,” I said immediately and hugged him tighter.

“It’s okay. I’ve moved on. She wasn’t ever really happy with her life. I just wished I would have seen it coming,” Louis sighed sadly and buried his face in my chest.

I held him like that for a few minutes before he looked up again. “Come on, we should go,” he said and stood up.

He held my hand as we made our way to his car. “Are you excited for tomorrow?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I said with a wide grin. Tomorrow was my first official date night with all the boys. I’ve spent plenty of time with them over the past month together, but they’ve been keeping their “Date Night” as a group plans secret from me.

“I can’t wait to officially welcome you to our group,” Louis said, gently pinning me up against his car and kissing my lips deeply.

“I feel pretty welcomed right now…” I smirked once he pulled out of the kiss. “Is there like a cult ritual or something?” I joked.

Louis laughed and shook his head, his fringe falling into his eyes. “No, but now that we know you fit well with all of us, things are going to be a little different,” he said and kissed me again.

I pulled his body closer to mine and I moaned into the kiss. “Are there going to be perks?” I asked against his mouth.

“Oh babe, there are going to be plenty of perks,” Louis chuckled and kissed me again.

My body tingled in anticipation. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow night.


	7. Liam

“I’m so excited! I’m so excited!” Niall chanted as he bounded out in front of me, eagerly wanting to get a window seat in the back of Louis’s car.

“Niall Horan, I am NOT sitting in the middle!” Zayn nearly dropped his bag as he raced after the blond.

Harry and Louis stayed back, walking on either side of me. “Such children,” Louis commented.

I couldn’t contain my laugh. “It’s your fault that you wouldn’t let Zayn ride up front with you,” I reminded him.

“I think since it’s your official date with all of us, you get to ride shot gun. I’m not playing favorites, I’m just being fair,” Louis replied matter-of-factly.

I glanced at Harry and he was on the verge of rolling his eyes at our boyfriend.

“You are so playing favorites,” I replied as we reached Louis’s car. Zayn and Niall were lightly wrestling each other against the car, arguing over who was going to be stuck in the middle.

“Guys!” Louis snapped, getting their attention. “Knock it off, will you?” he commanded as he popped open the trunk and piled all our bags in there.

For my official date with them all, we were going to a carnival/fair/craft show. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but the boys said they go every year and always have a great time. Now that they all knew I was compatible with each member of the relationship individually, it was time for me to be in an environment where we could act “couple-ey” together. Since they have tried to keep their relationship on the down low around campus to avoid harsh bullying, they tend to have their “dates” out of town. Now it was time for a road trip to get the carnival.

 

I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked at Harry who was mouthing. “I’ll sit in the middle.” I’ve been very good at being able to read Harry’s mute lips, even better than the other boys sometimes, so Harry normally would ask me to translate.

“Harry says he’ll sit in the middle,” I announced and Zayn and Niall stopped pinching each other’s sides to look over at the youngest boy.

“Oh, no, that’s not going to happen,” Niall said immediately and Zayn shook his head in agreement with Niall.

I was confused by the sudden change of attitude and I looked at Harry, finding him rolling his eyes once again. I was becoming used to picking up his annoyed expressions.

Noticing my confusion, Zayn spoke up, “Harry’s too adorable to sit in the uncomfortable middle seat,” he shrugged and reached out, ruffling Harry’s hair.

Harry grinned and blushed, pushing away Zayn’s playful hand.

“But also, if he falls asleep and dreams, his elbows start to swing. I think I still have a bruise from last time…” Louis chirped in, rubbing his side.

I let out a small chuckle. “Well, here, I volunteer to sit in the middle. No more fighting, you two,” I declared and moved towards the back of the car.

“Yes! That means I can sit up front!” Zayn cheered.

“No fair!” Louis pouted.

Zayn’s expression fell for a moment before he walked over to Louis and kissed him. My heart did a little flip as I watched Zayn grip Louis’s face, kissing him using tongue. When they pulled apart, Louis didn’t seem as upset about having Zayn ride up front anymore. “Never mind,” Louis stated, flustered with red cheeks.

We all piled into the vehicle, having Niall on my left and Harry on my right. “How long is the ride there?” I asked.

“About an hour,” Louis said as he started the car. I smiled when Louis reached over and took Zayn’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “You got your inhaler, right Li?” Louis asked me. Of course he was the mother of the group.

“Yes,” I replied.

“I packed an extra, by the way. Got it from Andy,” Niall chimed in and I smiled gratefully.

I felt Harry rest his head on my shoulder and Niall took my hand, idly playing with my fingers on his lap. I had a feeling today was going to be a good day.

Flashback

“Hey Liam! Catch!” The little 6 year old, Jeremy, threw the foosball through the air and Liam caught it with ease.

Liam grinned at his best friend and threw the ball back. He loved school, but recess was his favorite time of the day. It was his favorite because he loved playing catch with foosballs and he especially loved playing with Jeremy.

“Go long, Liam!” Jeremy said and Liam took off running out into the field beside the elementary school.

He was going to go further, but suddenly he didn’t feel too well. His pace slowed and turned back to his friend, waving his arms. Jeremy threw the ball but it went over Liam’s head. The little boy turned and looked at the ball as it fell several feet away from him in the grass. He winced as he took a deep breath, already dreading having to go out and fetch the lost ball. He didn’t know why he didn’t feel so good anymore, but his chest hurt a lot. He had a similar feeling last week while playing kickball in gym class, but he ignored it, thinking he was just playing too hard.

Liam walked out to the fallen foosball but when he bent down to retrieve it, a cough erupted from his throat and when he went to take a breath in, the pain in his chest was ten times worse. He fell to his knees as he kept coughing slightly, unable to get a good breath in without his chest hurting. He didn’t know what was going on and he was scared because black flecks were forming in his vision.

“What are you doing, Liam?” Jeremy ran up behind his friend and Liam looked up to see Jeremy looking down at him. Liam wanted to respond that he couldn’t breathe, but his chest hurt too much to talk. Luckily, his friend understood that something was wrong, and he instantly took off running, calling for their teacher.

Liam moved so he was sitting on his butt and he put his hands on his chest. When he did breathe in, it felt funny underneath his hands. He closed his eyes as tears raced down his cheeks, hoping the teacher would come fast.

After he had closed his eyes, he thinks he passed out, because when he woke up, he was no longer in the yard of the school playground. He was laying down in a big bed, way too big for him, and the very white walls were plastered with cheesy animal pictures. “Momma,” he let out a small whimper, scared because he didn’t know where he was. He knew his chest felt better, but now there was something tickling his lip under his nose and he reached up to pull it away.

“Honey, don’t,” his mother seemed to appear out of nowhere and she pulled her son’s hand away from the oxygen nasal canal. “It’s helping you breathe,” she informed him.

Liam frowned and felt the tears return to his eyes. “Where am I?” he whimpered.

His mom moved a chair close to the bed and she took his small hand into her own. “You’re in the hospital, sweetie. You’re fine, but they want to keep you on the oxygen because your lungs are a little sore right now,” she explained. “Do you remember what happened?”

Liam sniffled and squirmed under the scratchy covers. “I w-went to chase the ball, a-and then I didn’t feel very good,” he explained to his mom. “My chest hurt really bad, Momma,” he blubbered and his mom moved to hug her son.

“It’s okay, baby, you’re okay now,” she soothed him. “Why don’t you try and get some rest, and a doctor will be here when you wake up to explain what happened, okay?” she told him and Liam nodded, already feeling tired again.

“Love you, Momma,” Liam told her and he settled in against the plush pillows and closed his eyes, falling back asleep.

When Liam woke up again, the room was brighter and his dad was there instead of his mom. Along with his father was another man in a white coat. Liam knew this man was a doctor, but he wasn’t the doctor he normally went to see every so often when he had a sore throat.

“Hello, Liam, I‘m Dr. Shack,” the doctor said and the little boy frowned and looked at his dad.

“Where’s Momma?” Liam asked.

“She had to go home and get your sisters off to school. She should be back soon though,” his dad promised him and took his hand, just like his mom did last night.

The doctor came around and sat in a chair on the other side of Liam. “How does your chest feel, Liam?” he asked.

Liam shrugged. “Fine,” he said.

“Do you feel any pain? Any discomfort?” The man asked and Liam shook his head. “Are you having any difficulty breathing?” he asked and that’s when Liam noticed that the oxygen tank was gone.

“No, I feel fine,” Liam stated.

“That’s good,” the doctor explained and stood up again to examine Liam with his stethoscope.

Liam took deep breaths when the doctor told him to and told the truth about telling him that nothing hurt.

“He seems fine now, which is good,” the doctor told Liam’s dad as Liam pulled the blankets up to his chin. The two men went to the door and talked quietly before the doctor walked out of the room.

His dad came back over and sat down. “When your mom gets back, we’ll explain to you what’s happening,” he said.

“Am I sick, dad?” Liam asked.

His dad’s eyes widened. “Oh god no,” he said and shook his head. He didn’t want to think his son was sick because even though the boy was young, he still related “sick” to when his grandpa was in the hospital and then he never came home. “Well… you’re a little bit sick, but you’re going to be fine, Liam, I promise,” he said and kissed his son’s forehead.

Liam relaxed a little bit, but not much.

When his mom finally returned, the doctor came back and began to explain to him what asthma was. He said that it was when a part of the lungs start having spasms. He explained to Liam that what occurred yesterday in the playground was an asthma attack caused by him running around.

Liam explained to them how he had felt pains last week too, but nothing as bad as yesterday.

“You’ll most likely start having pains in your chest at any amounts of physical activity since you don’t appear to have any allergies. But attacks should be less common once we get you settled on some medication. I recommend that you try and take it easy though Liam, meaning no playing around at recess for a while,” the doctor explained to Liam.

When the doctor left, a woman came in and taught him how to use an inhaler. She let him test it out with a blank can and explained to him that if he felt like the pains were getting too bad at any time, he needed to find his parents or teacher and they would have the inhaler for him.

Liam was able to go home the next day with three shiny new inhalers. One would stay in his mom’s purse, another would stay in the bathroom so Liam could get to it at home, and the other would be given to his school in case he had an attack there. Liam was excited to go back to school, but it was the weekend so he waited until Monday. He had wanted to go outside and play like he normally did, but his mom kept him inside all weekend. Liam was upset at first, but he occupied himself with movies and action figures. He didn’t have any pains so he wondered if maybe the doctors were wrong about the asthma coming back again.

When Monday arrived, Liam was anxious go see his friends at school, especially Jeremy. When he went into the classroom, Jeremy was the first one to come up to him and ask him if he was okay. Liam explained he was okay and didn’t bother telling him about the asthma because at this point the thought he didn’t have it anymore.

“Good thing you’re not sick anymore!” Jeremy said as he walked with his best bud out to recess later that day. “That really freaked me out,” he admitted and Liam felt guilty.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” Liam promised and the boys pinky promised each other before racing off to play again. Liam was so sure it wasn’t going to happen again that he ignored the doctor’s advice about taking it easy during recess. Plus Jeremy hadn’t wanted to stay inside and color and Liam didn’t want to be alone.

“Tag! You’re it!” Jeremy pushed Liam’s shoulder enough to knock off his balance slightly before he took off running into the playground.

Liam found his footing and dashed out after his friend, laughing as he did. He loved tag more than he loved playing foosball.

But only one lap around the playground and Liam’s chest began to hurt again. Oh no, Liam thought and he slowed down, stopping near the swings to try and catch his breath. The doctor told him that sometimes the pain would just go away on its own. This apparently wasn’t one of those times and Liam felt breathing getting harder and harder to do.

“Liam!” Jeremy was by his side again, along with a couple other kids that came to see what was the matter. “You told me you weren’t sick anymore!” the other little boy said in a mean tone and Liam felt even more guilty.

“I-I’m sorry,” Liam stuttered through uneven and painful breaths.

“What’s wrong with him?” a little girl asked, sticking her nose up at Liam as he slowly sat on the floor, his legs shaking too badly.

“I don’t know. But this is the second time he’s done it,” Jeremy told the little girl with an accusing tone towards the little boy on the ground.

“What a weirdo,” another little boy said and Liam was in shock. Was he really weird for being sick like this? It wasn’t his fault.

“Yeah. I don’t want to play with him if he’s going to keep acting like this,” Jeremy declared and Liam felt his little heart break.

“B-but—” Liam tried to beg for Jeremy to stay his friend but the pain became to much for him to even talk and he started to cry instead, his breath coming out in wheezes.

“Listen to that noise!” the other little boy said, meaning the wheezes Liam was making as he tried to breathe.

“He belongs inside with that kid that eats glue!” another voice chimed in and then Liam’s ears were filled with the sound of his classmate’s laughter.

“He belongs with the freaks,” a girl said.

“Yeah, Liam, you’re such a freak!” Jeremy yelled down at him and kicked at the ground, sending dirt flying up into Liam’s face.

This only increased the pain in Liam’s chest as he struggled to breath. He continued to cry, though it was hard to because he could barely catch his breath. He buried his head in his knees, trying to block out the horrible things his “friends” were calling him.

‘Freak’ stood out the most, especially because the boy he thought was his best friend was yelling it at him.

“Liam? Oh goodness, Liam!” This was a new voice and Liam carefully raised his head to see that his classmates were all gone and the playground was empty. His teacher crouched down beside him and in her hands she held his inhaler. “Here sweetie, take this,” she told him and Liam slipped the mouth piece between his lips like he was taught to do.

His teacher helped him squeeze the contraption and the medicine coursed through his body. After a few seconds, the pain started to decrease, but his crying only increased. His teacher, assuming he was just frightened by having another asthma attack, helped him inside and took him to the nurses office. He was instructed to lay down and he curled up on himself as he waited for his parents to come pick him up again. His friends no longer liked him. I’m nothing but a freak.

~

We were a few miles away from the fair grounds and all the boys were buzzing with excitement. Harry was literally bouncing in his seat. He had his arm draped over my shoulders and Niall’s arm rested over his, his other hand still playing with my fingers.

“Someone is going to ride the tilt-a-whirl with me, right?” Niall asked eagerly.

I was about to volunteer but the other boys all groaned and Zayn turned in his seat, grimacing at Niall.

“Not after you threw up on us last time! No way! You ride that ride solo, little leprechaun,” Zayn stated and Harry and Louis both nodded in agreement.

“That sounds like a story I don’t want to hear,” I said, grimacing as I imagined it.

Niall pouted. “I promise I won’t eat too much before getting on!” he begged.

“Ni, you always eat too much,” Louis said and I chuckled.

Niall looked at me and grinned. “You’ll get on the ride with me, right?” he asked.

“Erm… maybe,” I said uncertainly. “I’m not the biggest fan of spinning rides myself though…” I began.

“Please!” Niall removed his arm from Harry’s and gripped my arm with both of his hands, tugging slightly. “Pretty pretty please!?” he begged.

“Guys… how am I supposed to say no to this?” I asked the rest of the car, unable to make myself decline the blonds’ request.

“Like this,” Zayn turned in his seat again and pointed at Niall. “No.”

Harry reached over me and lightly flicked Niall on the nose.

“Bad boy,” Zayn commented to Harry’s dog training technique.

Niall pouted and slumped down in his seat. “You guys are no fun,” he said.

I smirked and leaned down to him. “If it’s the first ride we go on, I’ll go,” I whispered to him.

Harry made a light gasp, though it was more of the sound that’s made when his mouth pop’s open, but I’ve learned to interpret it as a gasp. He was hitting me on the shoulder and pointing at me as he gaped at Zayn.

“Harry? Are you telling on me?” I asked with a grin and he nodded before grinning.

Zayn chuckled. “Yes, he did tell on you. Did you tell Niall you’d go on the ride with him?” he asked me, giving me a look that reminded me too much of a reprimanding primary school teacher.

I pursed my lips and shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Yes he did because unlike the lot of you, Liam’s actually nice!” Niall stuck his tongue out at Zayn.

Zayn reached back and punched Niall on the arm. Playful physical harm towards each other, I’ve learned, was a very Niall and Zayn thing to do. Just as hot make out sessions were Zayn and Louis’s. The more time I spent with my boyfriends, the more little details I’ve discovered about them.

Harry nuzzled my neck while Niall and Zayn continued to argue about risking their chances of getting puked on again to ride Niall’s favorite ride. I looked out the front window as we pulled into the large field for parking.

“Guys, chill, or we’re going to get kicked out before we even get inside,” Louis explained.

“Calm down, that’s only happened like once before,” Niall sighed.

Harry tapped my shoulder and shook his head, holding up two fingers, indicating that they were, in fact, kicked out of this carnival two times before.

Louis parked the car in the giant field designated for parking, which was already quite full. We all piled out of the car and went to the back to get our drawstring backpacks which contained our wallets and extra clothes.

I saw Harry skip up to Louis and take his hand, anxiously pulling him towards where the tents and rides were set up, mouthing something to him.

I reached out and took Zayn’s hand who then grabbed Niall’s hand and we followed our boyfriends into the carnival.

The first thing we did was get on the tilt-a-whirl. It wasn’t an instant decision but after Niall almost cried in self-pity, I told the boys that if Niall threw up again, I would personally do all the laundry when we got home and even agreed to sign a petition saying I will never allow Niall to ride this ride ever again. Ever.

But luckily Niall’s stomach didn’t fall victim to the spinning motions and he enjoyed the ride without vomiting, though the other boys were a little tense with fearful anticipation throughout the ride.

After a few more rides, Niall decided it was time for food. We found ourselves ordering at one of the trailers and sitting down at a picnic table. “Are you having a good time, Li?” Louis asked me.

“Yeah,” I replied with a grin.

“Good,” Louis smiled brightly before biting into his sandwich.

After lunch, we started to play the games that were set out around the lot. Harry won me a small teddy bear but Zayn was determined to win something bigger. In the end, between each boy, we all had at least three stuffed animals of many different sizes. We ended up each keeping one and giving the rest to a bunch of kids that unfortunately kept losing their games.

“Thank you!” A little girl squealed when I gave her the pink dolphin that Niall won at a ring toss game. I smiled at her and she raced off to her parents to show off her prize.

“C’mon,” Louis grabbed my hand and pulled me along through the crowd.

“Where are we going?” I asked, almost losing sight of the other three boys as they raced ahead of us.

“You’ll see,” Louis replied as he kept tugging me along. Eventually we found the other boys all standing at the front of a stage. “Amateur acts,” Louis explained to me and then I understood.

Unprofessional, but very talented people took the stage doing acts such as singing, dancing, comedy acts, and even skits. It was very entertaining and I didn’t want to leave. One girl came on the stage and started to sing Wonderwall acoustically and I laid my head on Louis’s shoulder, humming along with the words.

When the day turned to night, we were all growing tired. Louis was the only one with any ounce of energy left.

“But guys we have to go on the ferris wheel!” Louis whined, staring up at the large ferris wheel. Its pods were large, being able to fit all five of the boys.

“Lou, that’s not fair,” Zayn said under his breath and Louis pouted.

I looked over at Niall, wondering if he was afraid of them because of his claustrophobia, even though he had no problem with the other rides. Niall though didn’t seem to have a problem and I looked at Harry who was frowning, shying away from the group.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him and Niall answered for him.

“Harry doesn’t like heights very much,” he explained.

Louis continued to pout. “You know I love you Hazza, but couldn’t we just go on this ride just this time?” he begged.

Harry shook his head and mouthed “No.” I could tell that he was really scared to get on it.

I didn’t like the change in the atmosphere as Louis accepted the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to go on his favorite ride and Harry felt guilty for stopping him from doing so.

“Why don’t you three go on it. I’ll stay down here with Harry,” I suggested.

Harry looked up at me with bright eyes and he nodded, liking this idea.

“Are you sure?” Niall asked while Louis was already bouncing with excitement again.

“Yes. I don’t really like heights either,” I told them. It wasn’t technically a lie, because heights did freak me out sometimes, but I also wanted all the boys to be happy.

“You alright with that?” Zayn asked Harry who nodded.

Only when Niall and Zayn were sure Harry and I were okay with waiting, did they go stand in line with Louis for the ferris wheel.

I was about to go sit on a bench with Harry to wait for them, but the boy tugged on my hand and led me in another direction. I followed him to a small tent where the tables were covered with displays of different trinkets such as key chains, necklaces, earrings, and other things that I couldn’t possibly describe, all hand carved out of wood. Harry smiled at the eccentric woman behind the tables and she stood up, disappearing behind a curtain.

“What are we doing here, Harry?” I asked him, admiring the way his eyes were shining in the moonlight.

Harry just smiled at me and then waited for the woman to return. When she came back, she was carrying a small piece of wood. She handed it to Harry, who quickly tucked it under his arm to hide it from me. He paid the woman for her services and then pulled me back to the ferris wheel.

“Is that what you were doing when you disappeared earlier?” I asked him. During one of our breaks, Harry had wandered off and we found him at that tent earlier. But now I understood that he must have been placing an order for whatever he held in his hands now.

Harry nodded.

“Well can I see it?” I asked.

He shook his head and mouthed, “Not yet.”

We sat down on the bench and waited for the boys to come back from their last ride. Zayn looked even more tired than before but Niall was giggling beside Louis, whose energy must have worn off on the Irish boy.

“You look beat, Z,” I commented as Harry and I both stood up again.

“You have no idea,” Zayn yawned and went to my side, wrapping his arms around my waist and using my shoulder as a temporary pillow.

“What’s that you got there, Haz?” Niall asked and all the attention was moved to Harry.

Harry smiled and then revealed the piece he had been hiding from me. He turned it around and all our mouths fell open.

It was a black painted, finished plaque of wood with the engraving, “Love Is Precious with Louis, Zayn, Niall, Harry, & Liam.” 

“Wow,” Zayn said, lifting his head from my shoulder.

“That is amazing, Haz,” Louis said and reached out, wanting to look at it further.

“Li, are you crying?” Niall asked and I blinked, only now realizing that I was.

“Uh, yeah, I guess I am,” I said, blushing red as I wiped my cheeks.

“Why?” Louis asked, frowning at me slightly.

“I just, well, I don’t know how to say this,” I said and gulped.

“What’s wrong?” Zayn frowned at me, thinking something was wrong.

“Nothing,” I said immediately, not wanting to frighten my boyfriends. “That just made me realize how lucky I am. Today has been wonderful and you guys have no idea how much I love you,” I explained and the boys all smiled at me, Harry and Zayn almost ready to cry with me.

“Oh, come here!” Louis pulled me into a hug and then the other boys all joined the hug.

“You’re a part of this relationship now, Liam, and we love you so much,” Louis said and kissed my forehead.

“I know. I’ve never felt this happy before,” I exclaimed.

“Then why are you still crying?” Niall let out a small chuckle.

“It’s just what I do when I’m really happy,” I explained and Niall leant forward, kissing a tear off my cheek.

“Let’s go home, yeah?” Louis suggested and we all went back to the car.

Zayn fell asleep minutes after we started our journey back home and soon after, Harry was asleep on my shoulder. Niall had put his headphones in and was staring out the window, half asleep as well.

I held the plaque that Harry had made on my lap as we drove home. Seeing my name along with the other boys made me feel like I really belonged.

By the time we got home, everyone was too exhausted to make it back to our designated dorms so we all curled up on Louis’s large bed at his apartment. No one complained as we cuddled up on the bed in thin pajama bottoms that Louis lent us. Harry, Niall and I were in the middle while Zayn laid on the outside by me and Louis on the other side by Niall. I fell asleep almost instantly as we all settled in.

The next morning I was awoken by a pair of hands running up and down my chest. I snapped my eyes open and was rewarded with blue eyes smiling down at me. “Morning,” Niall said and leant down, kissing my neck.

“Morning,” I said and then couldn’t hold back my moan as I closed my eyes.

“Tut tut, don’t fall asleep,” I heard Louis say and I opened my eyes, realizing that the other boys were all still on the bed, except now they were all stripped down to their boxers.

“I’m not,” I replied to Louis and gasped when I felt someone tug at my pajama pants. I looked down and saw Harry smiling innocently at me as he slipped his fingers into the elastic of the pants.

“We want to show you how much you mean to us, Liam,” Zayn said and I laid my head back down against the pillows.

“Okay,” I said breathlessly.

Hands began to move all around my body and my body reacted in the best way to their touches. “Are you ready for this, Liam?” Louis whispered into my ear.

“I’m ready. I’m ready for forever,” I replied and I knew that by accepting this final step in our relationship, I was making a commitment. Not only a commitment as their boyfriend, but a commitment to giving myself to these four other boys both physically and emotionally. There was no doubt in my mind that I was deep in love with these boys, these freaks. Because that’s what we were; we were all freaks. Only now they were my freaks and I was theirs.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment/kudos if you enjoyed this. It's the fic I am most proud of. Hope you enjoyed reading. xx


	8. Prompt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is filled prompt from tumblr, only now remembering to transfer it over here. It's short, set 1 year after the previous chapter ended.

Liam should have known that his perfect life at Jefferson University wouldn’t last. It had been a year since he was officially welcomed into the relationship with the other four boys. Louis, Zayn, Niall, and Harry were perfect boyfriends and it made Liam’s stressful first year at Uni a lot more tolerable. Louis graduated last year with a degree in theatre education and now held a job at the university itself, working in the theatre that once was the only place the boys all felt at home.  
They still met up there often, usually four out of the five waiting for Louis to finish up a lesson, but now they actually had a home for them all.  
It was officially under Louis’s name and he paid for most of it, but the four other financially stressed college students helped out with money when they could. Louis said he didn’t mind though because the university apparently paid very well.  
So they al lived together now, just outside of campus, and Liam couldn’t recall a time he’d been happier.  
But like most things, he realized it wouldn’t last. It was only his second day of practice for the season and the new players on the team had caught win of Liam’s relationship situation.  
At first it was just comments, foul language muttered under breaths. With Andy and his other friends from last year graduated, Liam was lone and defenseless to the rough attacks during practice.  
Liam made it through practice without incident, but it was afterwards when he was leaving the locker room, that he realized that the verbal bullying was just the beginning.  
“Hey, four-fuck-fag!” This voice was familiar; Kyle, from last year that had originally given him a hard time. Walking with him was Jasper and the group of four of the freshmen that had harassed Liam on the field.  
Liam chose to ignore the comment, though he knew if Louis was here he would have responded with a “Hell yeah I have four hot guys to fuck! You can’t even get one person to let you touch them!”  
Liam gripped his bag on his shoulder and tried to ignore the way his hair stood up on the back of his neck. It was cold, he reminded himself, and dark so that’s why he was feeling so nervous. He just had to get to the theatre to meet up with the guys and then they could go home.  
Fate apparently didn’t have that in mind though, and the group of guys followed him around the corner by the stadium and jumped him.  
Liam let out a yelp when he was pulled backwards, a heavy weight laying on his shoulders and forcing him to his knees.  
“So this fucker has four boyfriends? That’ s disgusting!” one of the freshmen yelled, walking around to stare down at Liam as other guys kept a firm grip on his shoulders and arms.  
“I suggest you let me up, now,” Liam said calmly, but trying his hardest to sound threatening. It didn’t work, apparently, because the football players all just laughed.  
“I don’t think so Li,” Kyle ripped Liam’s bag from him and threw up deep into the alleyway. Liam watched where it went because in the back of his mind he remembered that he Niall had tucked his inhaler in the side pocket before he left this morning. Liam attempted to shove the guys off and get to his feet to just run, because he knew the guys weren’t going to leave him unharmed, but their grips were tight.  
Jasper crouched down in front of Liam. “You’re body guard isn’t here to protect you anymore, Liam,” he smirked and Liam knew he was talking about Andy. Liam was going to respond, again trying to use logic to ease the situation, but Jasper’s fist shot out and caught Liam in the lip.  
He grunted and jerked his hand in instinct to tend to his busted lip, but the athletes were really strong.  
He slid his tongue over his teeth and knew he was bleeding into his own mouth.  
“We’re going to teach you a little lesson now, okay, freak?” Kyle sneered and Liam felt the hands holding him release.  
He had no time to react though when suddenly cleat-fitted shoes were kicking him from all sides. He fell to his side, curling up. He put his hands up to shield his face but then someone was straddling him and forcing his arms to the ground. Someone stood on either of his arms and Liam swore he heard one of his finger bones crunch.  
“As good as you think you are, Payne, we don’t need you on our team. We don’t want you fucking up our image. So we’re going to make sure you’ll never play again.” Liam had his eyes closed and he couldn’t tell who was above him, but then suddenly fists were pounding down on his face. Kicks continued on his sides and someone slammed their foot down on Liam’s hand, successfully breaking more fingers on his throwing hand.  
He screamed, he really did, not only because it hurt like hell, but because he was scared. He was used to bullying, but this was much worse. He felt like they wanted to kill him.  
Eventually the assault stopped and he hears Kyle ask, “You got his throwing hand, right?”  
“Yeah, he won’t be playing for a while,” another guy laughs and then their voices fade into the background as they walk away.  
Liam wasn’t sure how he managed to get up. His right hand was throbbing and he knew the guy was right; his hand was really messed up. But his entire body ached incredibly bad and he had to brace himself against the wall for a moment before the world would stop spinning.  
Eventually he began to limp down the sidewalk towards the theatre, desperate to find his boyfriends to comfort him. His left leg dragged behind him and he wondered for a moment if his ankle was also broken. He couldn’t sort through his pain of his body because it was everywhere, but a pain inside of him made him snap back into reality because this was really bad.  
He was almost half way to the theatre when the asthma attack began. He stopped to balance himself on a wall again as he tried to catch his breath. By now he doubted that he would make it back to his bag in time to get his inhaler, or make it to the boys. He tried calling out for help but the dark campus was deserted. He coughed harshly and he slid down the wall before falling onto a heap after everything went dark.  
-  
Louis jumped off the stage and approached his boyfriends as they sat waiting for him to finish up his last class, which ended just a few minutes ago. He was surprised to see that Liam wasn’t there, but he shrugged it off as his practice running late. Or, he was going to brush it off, until he saw the look on his other boyfriends’ faces.  
“What’s wrong?” he asked, leaning over one of the chairs.  
“Liam’s not here,” Zayn said as if it were the obvious answer.  
“Practice may have run late—” Louis began but then Harry is shoving his phone in Louis’s face.  
‘Just got done, on my way over now — L J ’ The text was sent over half an hour ago.  
“You try calling him?” Louis asked as the other boys all gathered their stuff and stood up, moving towards the exit.  
“Yeah, he’s not answering his cell,” Niall replied briskly and led the group outside.  
“I feel like something bad has happened,” Zayn said with a sad shake of his head as they look out on the campus.  
“We’ll go look for him at the stadium first, okay?” Louis suggested and together the boys all go in search for their missing boyfriend.  
~  
When they find him, it’s not a pretty sight. Harry let out a sob, a real sob, and it rattled through Louis’s brain longer than it should have because the other boys are all knelt down around Liam’s too-still form.  
“Louis, help! He’s barely breathing!” Niall cried and that snapped Louis back into action. He rushed over and shoved Zayn away so he can feel Liam’s chest. He is breathing, but he can hear the struggle in Liam’s chest.  
“He’s had an attack,” Louis confirmed frantically.  
“Look at him! He’s beaten to hell!” Zayn cried and he leaned heavily into Harry’s arms.  
“Call 911,” Louis demanded.  
“Lou—” Niall hesitated.  
“Just do it! I can’t fix this by myself, he needs help!” Louis yelled and Niall pulled out his phone to call for help.  
Only minutes later, Liam is being loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the hospital. Niall went with him because he’s the most calm.  
Louis isn’t able to drive because he is totally freaking out, but a police officer offered to drive them to they all crawled into the cruiser and are taken to the hospital.  
Louis held on tightly to Zayn and Harry’s hands when he walked into the building. He felt like if they weren’t there then he would have collapsed just like Liam did.  
Niall came out minutes later and he looked distraught but not as pale as before. “He’s okay,” he confirmed. “They got his breathing back to normal. But who ever the bastards are that attacked him really got him good,” he looked guilty and the other boys pulled him into a hug.  
“It’s not your fault, Ni,” Zayn muttered.  
“It’s our job to protect him,” Niall argued.  
“We can’t be there all the time, Niall,” Louis explained with a sigh. “We just have to be strong for him now, okay?”  
Niall nodded and they all go sit and wait for a doctor to come out and tell them that they can go see Liam.  
About a half an hour later, they are permitted to go see Liam. He’s all drugged up and smiling like a goof when his boyfriends walk in.  
“Heyyyy, boys,” Liam giggled. He has stitches on his lip and cut up forehead and his right hand it bandaged, caste on almost every finger.  
“Who did this to you, Li?” Zayn demanded almost immediately.  
This makes Liam’s face fall. “My teammates,” he muttered and slouched down in the bed. He nodded to his hand. “Don’t want me to play anymore,” he mumbled like a child.  
“Bastards,” Niall hissed and Harry just climbed onto the bed with Liam, curling up onto his side.  
“They won’t get away with this, Liam,” Liam exclaimed and Liam smiled.  
The doctor walked in and cleared his throat. “Liam, even though your fingers are indeed broken, I the breaks weren’t severe enough to permantly do damage. They will heal in a good amount of time and you’ll be out playing ball in no time,” he explained.  
“Hear that, Li?” Niall grinned.  
Liam nodded but still looked sad.  
“You still want to play, right Li?” Louis asked.  
Liam nodded eagerly. “Of course I do,” he said. “I just don’t want them to play…”  
“If you can I.D. them, they’ll be kicked off the team at least, if not arrested for what they did to you,” Zayn confirmed.  
This seemed to appease Liam and they managed to take him home that night. He was in a lot of pain with his injuries, and weak from his attack, but he knew everything was going to be alright because he had four wonderful boyfriends that loved him.


End file.
